


#NoFilter

by VanamesGurl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: As in it isnt a love bug at all, Based on a Tumblr Post, Love bug with a twist, M/M, Truth Bug, some violence but nothing major
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-01-25 02:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12521252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanamesGurl/pseuds/VanamesGurl
Summary: While on a random planet, Keith gets bitten by a bug that forces him to blurt out every little thought that flits through his pretty head. Poor Lance is in a state of being constantly flustered, and Keith just wants it to end.This is gonna be wild





	1. Chapter 1

  Lance knows a few things. He pretends like he’s kind of dumb, but he _knows_ things. Like, he knows flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp, or that dolphins tend to be smarter than some humans. He also knows that he’s humming, and that Keith is annoyed by his humming. So he does it louder.    
  “Lance, buddy...” Hunk lets his voice trail off when he sees Lance narrow his eyes meaningfully. The Yellow Paladin just sighs and shakes his head.    
  They’re on a jungle planet, trying to harvest some plants to hopefully make the food goo have at least some flavor. Coran is supposed to be in charge of the herb and spice gathering, but everyone is really just listening to Hunk.    
  And Lance is still humming, as he has been for the past two hours.    
  “Lance, can you stop the humming?” Shiro asks from where he is bent over, trying to uproot a small tree... thing.    
  “Sure thing, Shiro.” Lance replies. Keith’s shoulders relax, making Lance grin. The Red Paladin is fully focused on his task of hacking off bark from one of the tree things, and shucking it into the sack Pidge is holding.    
  Slowly, Lance creeps closer and closer, careful to avoid detection. Pidge sees him coming, but doesn’t say a word. Lance also knows that Keith had knocked over one of Pidge’s products on accident, so this must be the gremlin’s revenge.    
  Lance leans in, slowly, slowly, slowly.... and hums aggressively.    
  Keith shouts, throwing up his arms to swat at Lance - thankfully after deactivating his bayard - and whips around. “Lance, what the hell is wrong with you?!”   
  Lance smiles innocently, knowing that it would rile him up more. “What? I just wanted to see what you were doing over here, samurai.”   
  Lance also knows that Keith is a recluse in need of friends, and that the Red Paladin secretly likes nicknames given to him. It was a secret weapon the Blue Paladin wields to temper Keith’s annoyance when he was picking a fight.    
  “Lance, shut up, I’m not in the mood.” Keith grouches. Since he wasn’t yelling or trying to skewer him, Lance figured the nickname weapon worked really well.    
  “I haven’t even said anything!” Lance protests, knowing damn well what Keith meant.    
  “Lance, I swear, it’s too hot for-“ Keith cuts himself off suddenly, yelping and clapping a hand to his neck.    
  Lance immediately leans forward, worried for his friend. “What the hell was that?”   
  “I don’t know, I think something bit me!” Even when bitten by alien bugs, Keith somehow still manages to keep ‘Be Pissed at Lance’ at the top of his priorities. Lance is more touched than he cares to admit.    
  “Wait, hold still!” Pidge orders, trying to stand on her toes to see Keith’s neck. “If it’s still there, I need to catch it!”   
  “Just kill the damn thing!” Lance squawks, flapping his hands in alarm. “I don’t want it biting me!”   
  “I’ll bite you.” Keith growls suddenly, his voice a very, VERY different tone from his previously annoyed one. Lance feels his face heat up a bit, and struggles to overcome the sudden heat in the pit of his stomach. Keith looks absolutely mortified, and has gone completely still in horror.    
  Pidge lets out a triumphant ‘aha!’ and stands normally, something small wrapped up in a piece of the sack. It wriggles and squirms, but Pidge doesn’t so much as flinch. She raises a hand to wave over Shiro and Hunk, then turns to Lance and Keith.    
  “I don’t know what this is, but we’ll figure it out.” She narrows her eyes. “Until we do, though, you aren’t allowed to move, Keith.”   
  Keith frowns, but seems to agree. Until his mouth opens up and he blurts out, “Well, fuck you and fuck that.”   
  Lance gapes. Pidge gapes. Shiro and Hunk are too far away, but Lance figures that if they were closer they’d gape too. Even Keith is shocked. “Holy shit, Pidge, sorry, I have no idea why I said that.”   
  Slowly, Pidge shakes her head. “This is your one free pass, Kogane. Watch it.”   
  “Understood.” Lance swears he sees Keith gulp, and is about to tease him, but then Shiro and Hunk finally reach them.    
  “What’s going on?” Hunk asks, looking apprehensive already.    
  “A bug bit Keith and made him swear at Pidge!” Lance explained. Yeah, tattling was a bit of a low blow, but who can blame him? After Keith said that thing about biting Lance, anything is fair game.    
  “Well, take him up to the castle, then.” Shiro’s voice is calm and assured. Lance nods along, understanding that the castle was the only place to help Keith at this point.  _ Now, if only I could stop thinking about how Keith threatened to  _ bite  _ me, I could help.  _

  “Lance, come on, help him to the castle.” Shiro’s voice leaves no room for argument, so Lance just sighs and grabs Keith by the arm. 

  “Come on, Mullet,” Lance grumbles, dragging Keith off towards the castle’s pod. “We better get going.”

  “Why go when we can come?” Keith asks and winks and - oh… _ oh my god he meant… not that kind of come oh holy shit.  _

  “Keith what the hell?!” Lance yells - like a  _ man _ , thanks you very much - and drops Keith’s arm like it burned. His only consolation came in the fact that Keith looked just as red in the face as Lance.

  “... I have no idea why I said that,” Keith whispers, like he's afraid that something else will jump from his mouth if he opens it too much. 

  “Alrighty, time to go, Coran can fix this, it'll be fine.” Lance knows he's rambling, but he can't really help it. He's panicking, okay? His hot crush is suddenly…. flirting with him, he's allowed to freak out a bit, okay?

  They manage to get into the pod without incident(other than Pidge running up to them with the bug and a hurried message to keep the bug alive and secure until Coran can scan it), and quickly make their way through the castle to meet Coran in the med bay. 

  “Ah, number three and number four! What can I do for you?” Coran is as merry as ever, and it does wonders to soothe Lance’s frayed state of mind. 

  “While we were down there, Keith got bit by a bug. We don't know what it is, do you?” Lance asks, holding out the wriggling scrap of sack. 

  Coran carefully picks it up and turns to place it in a strange box thing, most likely to scan it. When the box starts glowing, Lance knows he was right. They wait in anxious silence for a minute or so, then Coran stands up straight and smiles at the Paladins. The smile is probably supposed to be reassuring, but it comes off as near maniacal. 

  “Oh ho ho, Keith, you lucky boy,” Coran chortles. “You were bitten by a - well, the name doesn't translate well, so I guess I'll tell you what it does then, hm?

  “Basically, this bite will last about one of your earth weeks, and then wear off. It's going to make you speak without processing what your saying. The thoughts will all be yours, you just won't have any choice in what is said and what isn't. It doesn't matter if you try to restrict your thoughts - you will say them anyway. You can't decide which of your innermost gut reactions you'll share, but you'll share it all the same!” Coran finishes with a grand flourish of his arms, beaming like this bug was good news. 

  “So he has absolutely no filter?” Lance squeaks. “An entire week of these - these  _ comments _ ?!”

  “It's not exactly pleasant for me either, Lance.” Keith snarls, looking infuriated. “I'm going to go running my mouth for a week, with no control!”

  “Yeah, but I'm gonna be dealing with your little comments!” How could Keith not realize just what sweet, sweet torture this was going to be? Lance may not survive. 

  “Believe me, my comments are the only little this about me,” Keith purrs, expression horrified. “Oh my god, no! I didn't just say that. No. No. No!”

  Keith storms off, most likely to go train. Lance should probably stop him, Coran probably had more to say, but Lance couldn't move. Keith had just said…  _ that _ ! How is Lance supposed to function?! 

  This was going to be the best worst week of his life. 


	2. Chapter 2

  “Hunk, you weren't there!” Lance protests from where he's sitting on the counter, watching his best friend cook. “He was all flirty and he made his voice all deep, and - ugh!”

  “Buddy, I know the bite is making him weird, but it just doesn't sound like him.” Hunk gives Lance a sympathetic look. “I know it's hard being around him, but maybe you're just imagining it?”

  “I'm not!” Lance isn't really that offended by Hunk’s skepticism since he wouldn't believe it himself if he hadn't been there. “He even cussed at Pidge!”

  “Nobody cusses at Pidge, though. Especially not Keith.” Well, Lance can't argue that. Keith has always been protective of the smallest Paladin, but also insanely awkward around her.  _ He probably just needs lessons on how to be a good big brother. He's basically her big brother, anyway, right? They talk certainly about aliens a lot… _

__ “I know!” Lance agrees. “Which is why it's so insane! Seriously, Hunk, no filter Keith is wild.”

  “But dick jokes? That's just not him, Lance.” Hunk calmly opens the space oven, puts in a tray of… something, closes it, and sets a timer. He turns to Lance and leans against the wall, looking thoughtful. He opens his mouth, but the door slides open before he can speak. In walk Shiro and Keith. 

  “Hey, guys.” Shiro waves, gently nudging Keith further into the room. “Keith is trying to not talk, since we're hoping that not speaking will keep his thoughts private.”

  Keith scowls at the ground, looking like a child being forced to make friends by his over enthusiastic dad. It should not be cute, nor endearing, and yet it is. It is so cute that Lance can't even bring himself to mock his old rival. 

  He's too busy trying to keep his blush under control under Hunk’s knowing (and slightly judging) stare. 

  “So, are you guys hungry?” Hunk asks, breaking the moment of quiet like the angel he is. “I can help you get a bite to eat, if you want.”

  “I want Lance to help me get a bite.” Keith blurts without prompting. “He looks tasty.”

  “Uhhhh…”  _ Words. What are words? How does he make them? What is happening? This is too surreal _ . 

  “Shiro, where’s Kaltenecker? I want a large glass of milk right now.” Keith’s voice is hoarse, his face deathly pale. 

  “Keith, no…” Shiro looks torn between laughing and crying, and the resulting expression is almost enough to snap Lance out of his Keith - induced haze. “You're lactose intolerant.”

  “Fuck you, dad, I'll kill myself ironically if I want to,” snaps Keith. He immediately grimaces. “Sorry.”

  “It's fine, Keith.” Shiro gives a pained smile as Hunk starts howling with laughter. 

  “Oh my god, Lance, you weren't exaggerating!” Hunk has tears in his eyes, and Lance finally snaps out of his daze. “He really is filthy!”

  “Lance  _ would  _ know how filthy I am,” growls Keith before he immediately covers his mouth. “Shiro, please, let me embrace death. I crave it.”

  Hunk isn't even standing anymore, having laughed too hard and fallen over. Shiro is trembling with the effort of holding in his laughter, and Lance can't tell if he or Keith is more flushed. 

  Lance isn't used to this attention, especially not from the Red Paladin. He's used to flirting with no response - it's always been a kind of fun game for him, a way to release tension. So it's really no surprise that Lance finds himself blurting outdated memes to cope. 

  “But do you crave that mineral?” he asks with a nervous laugh. 

  “I crave that ass.” With this comment, Keith immediately tries to smash his head into the door, only to be stopped when it slides open and Pidge walks in. 

  “Hey guys,” she greets, “I heard Hunk laughing and figured Keith was being a big loser about something. So here I am.”

  “He's a disaster!” Hunk cries out gleefully. “He's like a walking train wreck!”

  “Hunk!” Shiro sighs, looking disappointed. 

  “Is Hunk even your real name?” Keith demands, before groaning.

  Hunk calms down enough to smile and reply. “Nah, it's just a nickname. My real name is-”

  “Woah, hey!” Lance interrupts, flapping his hands dramatically. “Is am your best friend, only I get to know this secret!”

  “Lance, it's not really a secret, it's-” Pidge starts, but Hunk speaks up. 

  “Right, that's some level ten secret. All of you are only, like, level two or three.” Hunk nods at Lance seriously, and Lance just beams. He loves his ridiculous best friend. 

  “What does that even mean?” Keith asks, looking confused.  _ Ah, so he must have meant to ask that.  _

   “It's just something people joke about - the longer you know someone, the higher a level. Hunk and I go way back, and we're super tight, so we're a high level.” Lance explains, taking pity on an adorably confused Mullet.  _ Wow, I am so far gone for this idiot.  _

  “So what level am I, then, Hunk?” Pidge demands. “We go further back than these chumps!”

  “We're, like, level four.” Pidge nods thoughtfully, then gives Hunk a fist bump. 

  Shiro shakes his head, smiling fondly. Keith seems to be appeased, and the room falls into a content silence. Keith and Shiro grab water pouches, Hunk begins chopping some of the vegetables they had gathered earlier that morning, and Pidge joins Lance on the counter. The whole team is content to be in peace. Until Keith opens his mouth. 

  “Okay but what if I just shove my head in the oven and took a nap?” His body stiffins, and the whole team pauses. “I, uh, didn't mean to say that.”

  Lance starts cackling, absolutely delighted.  _ Thank god he isn't flirting. I can't take much more of that. Is it even flirting? Or does he just think of weird shit? God, I hope it's flirting.  _

__ “Keith, what the  _ fuck _ ,” whispers Shiro emotionally. 

  “Buddy, do you need a hug?” Hunk asks, putting down his knife and opening his arms. 

  “Please, I love hugs,” breathes Keith. His whole face flushes, and he groans, but Hunk just scoops him up. 

  “Since when do you like hugs, Keith?” Pidge asks, sounding oddly betrayed. 

  “Ever since I realized it was nice and that you guys wouldn't abandon me lime my parents.” Keith’s voice is muffled, bit everyone still hears his whispered “What the actual fuck, why can't I just  _ shut up _ ?!”

  “Aw, buddy, of course we won't abandon you!” Hunk cries, holding Keith tighter. “Group hug to prove it!”

  Pidge and Lance leap down to join in, grabbing Shiro as the go. The all crowd around Keith, happily snuggling in. 

  “Aw, Mullet, don't worry!” Lance coos playfully. “We won't leave you! You're like a rash we have to keep.”

  “Lance, I am short enough to not be above elbowing you in the gut right now.” Keith threatens. Lance laughs. He's been missing his bantering with the Red Paladin, so he was even happier to hear him run his mouth. 

  “Keep running your mouth, you discount Kurt Cobain. Maybe we'll hear some more secrets,” Lance teases. 

  “Keep mocking my hair and I'll think you might like it, McClain.” Keith shoots back, quicker than Lance had expected. 

  “Well, shoot, seems like Kogane on the bug drug knows his comebacks!” crows Pidge. 

  “More like Ko-gay-ne, am I right?” A brief pause where everyone processes, the everyone is jumping back and yelling at the same time. 

  “Since when were you hiding your sexuality from me?!”

  “Nice pun!”

  “Did you seriously just come out via pun?!”

  “You’re  _ gay _ ?” Lance gapes, reeling.  _ Gay? Oh, hell yes! _

  “Uh, yeah?” Keith says, uncertainly. He tenses within the hug, as though afraid of being rejected. 

  “Dude, nice!” Lance cheers before anyone else can speak up. “I’m bi!”

  “Well, thank god.” Keith says, before tensing again. “Because I’m not the, uh, only one?”

  “Sure, Keith.” Shiro laughs, but Lance is too busy overthinking Keith’s statement.  _ ‘Thank god’? Is that a ‘thank god I have a chance’, or just a ‘thank god I’m not the only non-straight guy on the team’, like he said? Mama warned me about boys being confusing, why didn’t I listen more?! _

  “So, while Lance processes, I’m gonna finish up with dinner.” Hunk announces, finally breaking the hug and Lance’s train of thought. He starts waving his hands in a shooing gesture. “Everyone, out! None of you cook, so go!”

  “I can cook snakes and lizards and scorpions,” protests Keith. “Can  _ you _ ?” Everyone stops,  _ yet again _ , to stare at the Red Paladin. Keith seems to process his words, and he just smacks his face. “I really hate this stupid bite.”

  “What were you  _ doing _ while I was gone?” Shiro demands, looking aghast at the idea of his little brother eating desert snakes.

  “Mostly breaking things and fighting bikers.” Keith grimaces, his face twisting with distaste at the lecture he was about to receive. He turned to Lance suddenly, his (gorgeous) violet eyes wide and pleading as he blurted, “Hey, Lance, you wanted to teach me how to shoot a blaster, right? So we should go right now, right?”

  “Yeah, yep, yuh-huh, sure thing, buddy.” Lance nods, not really sure what Keith had just asked him to do. “Now? Why not, let’s go.”

  “God, I can’t wait to find out how many ways I can make you say y-” Thankfully, Shiro shoves Keith in his gut and out of the kitchen and to the floor, cutting him off abruptly. Unfortunately, Keith was now gasping for air, mouth opening and closing like a dying fish, from where he lays on the ground. “Fuck you, bitch.”

  “You’re welcome, you little brat,” Shiro grinned, stepping over his dying brother without a care “Also, when you’re done training with Lance, we’re having a little heart to heart.”

  “Fuck you,” Keith rasps from where he lay on the floor.

  “See, I can’t tell if it’s the bug making him swear, or if he’s just swearing to swear,” ponders Pidge, also stepping over Keith without a care. 

  “It’s probably both, though,” muses Lance, who also proceeds to step over Keith. Pidge hums in agreement, and Shiro just laughs. Both the Green and Black Paladins walk away, calling out farewells to the others as they go. Lance grins as he bends over to offer a hand to Keith.

  “Oh my god, you look -”Keith slaps a hand over his mouth, eyes round with horror. The rest of his sentence is muffled enough that Lance can’t make it out, so he just raises an eyebrow in question.  _ It’s probably really unfair to demand answers when he’d kind of have to tell me. I’ll just nag him later, I guess. _

  “Well, ignoring whatever you were about to say, let’s get going.” Lance wriggles his fingers until Keith reaches up and takes his hand. Lance yanks his fellow Paladin to his feet, and the two start trekking towards the training room. “So, blasters, huh?”

  “I actually have no idea how to use any kind of weapon in space that we’ve come across.” Keith confesses, avoiding looking at Lance as he speaks. “I only really knew how to use a shotgun back on Earth. All of these blasters are… complicated.”

  “Didn’t you threaten that Galra in the Weblum a while ago?” Lance asks, confused. “I thought you pulled a gun on her.”

  “Lance, I fucking  _ bluffed _ .” Keith’s cheeks are a soft pink, his voice full of embarrassed exasperation. “I was in a tense situation, they were too fast for me to be comfortable using my sword on, so I bluffed.”

  “Ay por dios,” hisses Lance, shocked. “Do you  _ ever _ think ahead? What if that Galra really  _ had  _ been too fast? What would you have done if they’d gotten your gun?”

  “Die, probably.” Keith shrugs. “But I’ve been meaning to ask, it’s just… embarrassing, you know?”   _ And he does look embarrassed. It’s cute that he won’t even look me in the eye, and that he keeps fidgeting with his gloves. Cógeme, this boy is too much. _

  “Well, I’ll teach you to be the second best gunslinger - the first being me, of course - in the galaxy.” Lance pauses in his walking, stopping in front of the training room door, forcing Keith to look him in the eye. “ _ Only _ if you teach me hand to hand, though. I don’t wanna get my ass kicked if I’m ever without my bayard, ya feel?”

  “I’ll teach you hand to hand, no problem.” See, if he had said that  _ literally any other way way _ than the way he did, that sentence would have been innocent. Instead, Keith’s eyes were hooded, his voice rough and gravelly, his cheeks still slightly pink. Lance felt every syllable that fell from Keith’s soft, pink lips hit him like a warm weight in his gut. Just a simple sentence, loaded with more force than any blow Keith had landed,  _ ever _ . The moment turned steamy faster than Lance could keep up, and he panicked.

  “So anyway let’s talk guns!”

_ Ah shit. Smooth, McClain. Smooth as ice. This is why you’re single, dumbass. _

__ Keith jumped away, face redder than his Lion. “Ah, hah, yeah, guns, I love guns. Let’s do that. Yeah.” With that, they awkwardly make their way into the training room, the air between them still charged and tense. 

_ This is gonna suck.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhh my god! Thank you all for the support, this is insane! Seriously, I'm so glad so many people like this! Please, keep commenting and telling me your thoughts! It's the highlight of my day, I'm not even kidding! I love you all!!   
> Now, on to update TCF... yay!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shot thru the heart

  If it was awkward before, it was certainly worse now. Two laser rifles lay on the ground, literally snapped in half. Scorch marks littered the walls, the floor, the ceiling, Lance’s left shoe, and even the practice rifle in Lance’s loose grip. Lance doesn’t pay any it any mind, though. He's in too much shock. 

  “How… How are you  _ this bad _ at shooting?” Lance rasps. “Your aim is great when you throw your blades!”

  “Not… Not now, Lance.” Keith grits out, his shoulders too tense as he stands at the ready. He takes aim, his jaw clenched, his breath heavy, his arm locked, and fires. When he misses the deactivated droid yet again, he screams and goes to throw the rifle.  _ Again _ .

  “Nope, not doing that!” Lance yelps, snatching the gun before it can suffer the same fate as its brethren. “Dude, why are you so worked up? It's not a big deal!”

  “Because I want to impress-” Keith cuts himself off with a smack to his own face, startling Lance.  _ With all the times he's smacked himself, I should really be used to it at this point.  _ “I need to learn, Lance.”

  “Um? No you don't. I'm right here, sharpshooter extraordinaire.” Lance frowns slightly, confused. “Why do you want to learn this so badly?”  _ Does he just not think I’m a good enough shot? _

  “What if I lose my sword and you’re not there to cover me?” Keith sets his jaw in that stubborn way he does, the fire in his eyes still burning as strong as ever. “I can't be helpless.”

  “Okay, so we try again,” Lance relents, trying to ignore how warm he felt at Keith’s words. “But only if you stop breaking everything. Seriously, man, you're being way too rough.”

  “I'll show you rough,” threatens Keith. But it's not much of a threat, since it just makes heat pool in the pit of Lance’s gut, makes his legs wobbly, makes him flush red. Keith looks appropriately mortified, his face even redder than Lance’s, his mouth opening and closing in horror. Eventually, though, he seems to get over it, shaking his head in defeat and sighing. “Just give me the gun.”

  Lance wordlessly passes it back to him, still shaken from the ‘threat’(and the idea of an angry Keith with a firearm). Keith snatches it from his hand, face still that ( _ adorable _ ) shade of tomato red. Slowly, Keith raises the gun to take aim, but pauses before he can fire. 

  “Lance, what am I doing wrong?” Keith lowers the gun again and whips around to glare at Lance with those ( _ stunning _ ) purple eyes. “Am I holding it wrong? There’s no way I’m just  _ this _ bad at guns!” 

  Keith’s face is cherry red, his eyes wide and frustrated. He sticks his lip out in an almost-pout, and his eyebrows furrow, making his expression seem like a scowl. He has to tilt his head up the  _ tiniest _ bit to look into Lance’s eyes, and it makes the light of the training room reflect off his dark hair  _ just right _ . 

_   Dios mío, estoy tan enamorado _ .

  “Lance?” Keith snaps, his frustration plain. “Well?”

  “Oh, yeah, your stance is too stiff.” Lance manages to yank himself out of his stupor in order to help Keith,  _ his friend _ , just his friend.They’re just  _ friends _ . “Loosen yourself up a bit, and steady your breathing. Hold it when you aim, release it slowly and fire. It’s easy!”

  “Obviously it isn’t,” grumbles Keith, but he seems to take Lance’s advice to heart as he readjusts his aim and stance. He rolls his shoulders, inhales and exhales a few times, then raises the balster to aim once again. This time, when he fires, he actually manages to hit the droid in the stomach. He immediately turns to Lance, his eyes bright with victory and a grin on his face. “Look, Lance, I got him!”

  Lance feels Keith’s absolute  _ beauty _ like a knife in the chest, and he can’t help but beam and throw his hands up. “Hell yeah, you did!” 

  Keith goes still, his smiles softening a little, and he whispers, “I can’t believe that you’re this -”

  “Keith! Lance!” Both boys jump at the sound of Hunk’s voice from the now-open door, faces flushed.  _ That I’m this what? What was he going to say?! _ “Dinner’s ready! Are you guys done?”

  “Uh, yeah just about!” Lance announces, inwardly cringing at his own volume and higher-than-normal pitch. He clears his throat a little and tries again. “Just let us clean up in here, okay?”

  “I’ll clean you up,” offers Keith, voice smooth and deep. Lance snaps his head towards the Red Paladin, gaping. Keith looks embarrassed, but more confused this time, with his eyebrows pinched and his nose scrunched up. “I don’t even know what that one  _ means _ !”

  Lance, trying very hard to not think of how many different meanings it could have, laughs it off awkwardly. “Who knows, man? Let’s just head down to dinner. Hup bup bup,” Lance yelps when Keith opens his mouth again, “that’s enough out of you! Shush!”

  “What are you gonna do, gag me?” Keith taunts, a sly smirk on his lips and a dangerous glint in his eyes. Lance resists the urge to shiver and lean in closer, instead opting to act as though he hadn’t heard a single word. He just turns on his heel and scurries across the room to the door where Hunk had just been, calling over his shoulder, “Thanks for cleaning up okay see you at dinner bye!”

* * *

 

  The worst thing about the whole Bite Fiasco, Lance figures, is just how damn cute Keith is when he says something he didn’t mean to say. He hunches his shoulders up, his cheeks go slightly pink, and he glances down at his gloved hands. It’s absolutely adorable. Lance has to continuously remind himself to stop staring, but, judging by Hunk’s constantly raised eyebrow, it isn’t often enough. 

  “So, Keith, how was training?” Shiro asks pleasantly. 

  “I kept missing until Lance gave me some pointers.” Keith keeps his answers short in a valiant effort to keep his control. “The point I’m most interested in, though, is -” Shiro mercifully shoves a spoonful of goo in Keith’s face, cutting him off.

  “That’s nice, Keith.” Shiro says placatingly, raising his voice slightly to be heard over Keith’s gagging.

  “Paladins,” Allura cuts in, “I have news regarding the coalition. We have recently received a transmission from a planet called Setibevol. They wish to invite us down to socialize, meet their people, and discuss the logistics of them joining the coalition.”

  “What, we just go and make nice? Party until they agree? Be flashy like a bunch of peacocks?” Keith blurts. He immediately scowls, his cheeks staining with the pink that was seeming to find a permanent place there. He sighs heavily, saying “Sorry, Princess.”

  Allura just waves her hand, a faint smile on her face. “Don’t worry, Keith. But, yes, that is the plan. Though, I must ask, what is a peacock?”

  “Not what, Princess,” Lance interrupts, looking at Keith in wonder, “but  _ why _ ? Keith, seriously? Peacocks?”

  “I’ll take a peek at your -” Once again, salvation in the form of goo being launched into Keith’s face, this time from Pidge. “Thanks, Pidge.”

  “Don’t mention it!” Pidge looks too delighted from behind her still-raised spoon. “Anytime, Keith.”

  Keith shivers visibly. Lance shares his sentiment.  _ Never mess with Pidge. Man, if I had a GAC for every time I thought that, I could buy and sell Zarkon at this point. _ “So, when do we touch down?”

  “That’’s what I wanted to discuss,” Allura explains. “See, we need to be there as soon as possible. The army of Setibevol could be instrumental to the war effort. We  _ must _ have them on our side. Normally, we would already be setting a course for the planet, and I would be telling you this as an alert to focus more on your diplomatic training rather than your combat. However, our current situation is a bit more… complicated, shall we say? Than usual.” At this point, she looks over at Keith. 

  “Fuck,” Keith promptly spits out, looking disgruntled.  _ Since when could I tell his emotions just from the angle of his eyebrows? _ Keith immediately winces, though, regret in the grimace on his face. “Uh, yeah. Sorry again, Princess.”

  “Should we  _ really _ be going on such a sensitive mission with Keith like, well, like  _ this _ ?” Hunk asks, gesturing to said Paladin. Hunk turns to Keith, smiling faintly. “No offense, man.”

  “How can I take offense when you smile like the sun, Hunk, what the  _ fuck _ ?” Keith growls, looking more irritated at Hunk’s smile than at his own words for once. 

  “Well,” Allura says, looking at Keith with surprised amusement, “normally I would agree that we should wait. However, time is not necessarily on our side. We need all of the help we can get for this war. So, instead of asking if we should go through with this plan, I’m asking  _ how _ we go through with it.” She turns to speak directly to Keith. “I am sorry we cannot take your comfort into consideration, Keith. We must put the war first.”

  “I hate this plan and everything about it.” Keith announces, before immediately flinching. “I don’t mean that. Uh, yeah, the war comes first. We can do this, I don’t mind.”

  “In that case, why not stick Shiro with babysitting duty?” Pidge suggests, gesturing to the Black Paladin with her spoon. 

  “Yeah,” Lance agrees. “He’s basically the dad here, anyway.”

  “Daddy.” Keith muses. He immediately gags, hands flying to his mouth. “That was horrible, someone kill me.”

  The table erupts into laughter, both at Keith’s mortified groans and Shiro’s red face. The fact that both Alteans are wondering why Shiro being Keith’s father is so funny isn’t helping matters. Lance is laughing so hard his stomach is aching, and he can hardly see through his teary eyes. Across from him, Pidge falls out of her chair. Hunk is slapping the table, crying just as much as Lance, despite the fact that Hunk is a silent laugher, wheezing more than snickering. Eventually, Shiro joins in, grinning and shaking his head. 

  “Paladins,  _ please! _ ” Allura interrupts, waving her hands for their attention. “I need to know the plan!”

  Wheezing and gasping for breath, they all calm down slowly. Shiro gets it together first, so he answers. “Sorry, Allura. Yes, I’ll keep an eye on Keith the whole time. It’ll be fine.”

  “Very well,” Allura muses, smiling warmly. “Then it’s settled. When we get there, in approximately one day, Shiro will be on Keith duty, and the rest of us will run interference to keep the people away from them. Now then, time for bed!”

  With a steady stream of  various good night wishes, the team separates and heads off to bed. An hour or so later, Lance lays in bed, wide awake, face mask in place. His headphones play a gentle tune, and his blankets were soft and tucked in around him. 

  So  _ why _ wasn’t he asleep?! Everything is perfect for sleeping - the lights are dim, the air is nice and cool, and even his mattress is the perfect amount of softness - but he wasn’t sleeping! Why?

_ Wow, even in my own head it sounds whiny. Besides, I know exactly why I’m not sleeping. It’s that stupid mullet’s fault! _ Only a single day of Keith being Bitten, and yet Lance is already losing sleep over it.   _ This is absolutely ridiculous. _

_ ‘I’ll show you rough.’ _

  Lance groans and tugs his hair a bit, knocking his headphones askew. 

_ ‘The only point I’m interested in is -’ _

__ Lance whimpers a bit, trying very hard to focus solely on the music in his ears.

_ ‘I can’t wait to see how many ways I can make you say yes.’ _

__ Lance bites his fist, glaring at the darkness of his eye mask.

_ ‘I’ll teach you hand to hand.’ _

__ Lance groans. This is going to be a very,  _ very _ long week. Maybe not as long as Keith’s - _ no no no, not going there, nope! Time to think about old Tia Rosa and her wrinkly kisses she used to give, haha, yet, old ladies. Alright, time for bed.  _

  Lance definitely rests well that night. He closes his eyes, he sleeps eight hours solidly. What he  _ definitely  _ does _ not  _ do is lay awake for several more hours, trying to drown out Keith’s deep, raspy voice with his music. And, so what if he does? It’s nobody’s business except  _ his _ , right? Right. 

   Lance tries desperately to reassure himself of all of this as he  _ finally _ starts to slip into sleep around three in the morning, Space Time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um??? holy shit??? This fic has gotten so much support and love, and I am so insanely grateful!! Seriously, I was really nervous about posting this fic at all because I wasn't sure I would do the original idea justice. But people actually think it's funny?   
> Thank you all so much for all these lovely comments and the mountain of kudos! It is crazy motivating, and I can't wait to update future chapters for you all.   
> I love you all!!! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

  The next morning found Lance scowling at his breakfast goo. He can  _ feel _ the bags under his eyes, like tiny weights, and he knows he looks like a mess. His hair's a disaster and even his clothes are rumpled. Hunk and Shiro, the only other two at breakfast, are tactfully avoiding eye contact and instead chatting amiably. The door swishes open, and Pidge comes in with Keith. 

  “How many bar fights were you in?” Pidge is asking, looking eagerly at Keith.

  “Fuck, you’re so annoyingly cute, like a puppy that won’t leave me the hell alone,” growls Keith, looking disgruntled. “I was only in three.”

  Pidge, beaming from the ‘complement’, immediately demanded “How many did you win?”

  “How do you even win a bar fight?” Hunk asks from his seat. Pidge and Keith sit down as well, their goo having been set out for them. “Is is whoever the last one standing is?”   
  “Hunk, you innocent coconut,” Keith mutters, shaking his head, “I don’t think you know what a bar fight really  _ is _ . It’s mostly just a few people fighting, not an entire bar. That’s just in movies.”

  “Aw, man.” Hunk and Pidge both slump in disappointment. Keith looks at them both before huffing.

  “Of course, in the three I was in, everyone got involved. I won two of them.” As he says this, Keith glances down at the table, eyebrows drawn together. Lance can’t help the smile steadily growing on his place. 

  “That’s so cool!” Pidge gasps, bouncing in her seat. Hunk looks torn between delight and horror. Pidge doesn’t seem to care, though, as she asks, in wonder, “How did you beat a bunch of grown men?”

  “Knife.” Keith grunts, beginning to shovel goo into his mouth. 

  “You brought a knife to a fistfight?” Shiro speaks up, making the other Paladins freeze. “You got into fistfights? In  _ bars _ ?”   
   “Uh oh, Dad is mad,” whispers Hunk. Pidge and Lance both turn and raise their eyebrows, unimpressed with, but not surprised by, his terrible whispering skills. Hunk grins sheepishly in response. 

  “Keith, what the  _ hell _ ?” Shiro frowns at Keith, who flinches and scowls in response. “What have you been  _ doing _ since I left earth?”

  “You’re not my real dad!” Keith snaps, his expression suddenly reproachful. Shiro raises a brow, just looking at Keith. Lance knows this tactic - the Parent Stare - where the parent just  _ looks _ at their kid until their kid realizes just how stupid whatever they just said was. Lance’s mother was the  _ queen _ of that stare. She probably still is, Lance just wouldn’t know anymore.  _ Alright, depression thoughts, go back under the Repression Rug, we’re not doing this today. _

  Keith seems to have realized what he said, and is now muttering a quiet, “Sorry, that was the bite speaking.”

  “So are you going to tell me what you’ve been up to?” Shiro demands again, resting his chin on his folded hands. 

  “Not when you sit like a high school principal in a cheesy movie, I won’t,” Keith quips. Before Shiro can give him the Look again, he raises a hand and says, “Sorry, yeah, I know. And it’s a long story, Shiro.”

  “So summarize.”  _ Ah, there’s his ‘I’m the senior officer here, so listen up’ voice. This won’t end well. _

  “I ate snakes and lizards and got into bar fights,” Keith says carefully, treating each word as though it had the power to kill him. In this conversation, though, they most likely could have that power. “Nothing else happened.”

  “I don’t understand how you got into that  _ much  _ trouble,” Shiro groans, rubbing a hand on his forehead, stressing. “The Garrison should have gotten you into shape.”

  “Oh no,” whispers Pidge, since she can actually whisper. “He hasn’t told Shiro. This won’t be pretty.”

  “The Garrison kicked -”

  “Old habits! They got  _ way _ too lax with security!” Lance cuts in quickly, speaking over the rest of Keith’s sentence. “It was scary how easy it was to sneak out, let me tell ya.”

  Shiro frowns again. “Who was the officer in charge? McCulley? Rush?”

  “Iverson.” Hunk, Pidge, and Lance all spit with the same amount of venom. Keith shudders at the name, giving the others a sympathetic look. Shiro looks at them all in shock.

  “They gave that jerk a position of command? Are you kidding?” Shiro looks  _ furious _ . “That idiot was a teacher when I was still a student, and he was the absolute worst. He was incredibly rude to most students, but was even worse to those who had immigrant parents.” He pauses to look directly at Lance. “You’re parents came to America from Cuba, right? I bet he was absolutely cruel to you, Lance. I’m sorry.”

  Lance just blinks. No one had ever addressed just how much worse to him Iverson had been. Everyone had just ignored it or, the one time he had gone to another member of administration, denied it. So, to have Takashi Shirogane of all people acknowledge it,  _ apologize _ for it, meant a lot. He clears his throat and looks down at his empty plate. “Thanks, Shiro.”

  “What?” Keith demands, snapping his head to glare at Lance. “What did that ass do to you?”

  “Souldn’t you know, Keith?” Shiro asks, looking at Keith suspiciously. “You were in the same year, right?”

  “Different classes.” Lance lies easily. Pidge and Hunk nod quickly. Keith doesn’t seem to have heard, instead continuing to glare intently at Lance. For his part, Lance tries to ignore it and remind himself that Keith just doesn’t know how people work.  _ He’s only glaring because he’s mad, but not at me. He just doesn’t know how to be a human sometimes. It’s all good. _

  “Lance, what did that asshole  _ do _ ?” Keith snarls. He digs his nails into the table, having risen slightly out of his chair in his fury.

  Lance only hesitates slightly before replying. “Nothing much, he would just tell me what I did wrong in flight simulations. It wasn’t too bad.”

  “Bullshit, that’s your ‘I’m trying to act like it wasn’t too bad but it was horrible’ voice.” Keith growls, standing a little more. “So, Lance,  _ what did he do? _ ”

  “Iverson would tell him he was a horrible pilot, -” Hunk starts.

  “Hunk!” Lance gasps in protest. 

  “- that he was only in fighter class because Ke - some guy dropped out, that he would never amount to anything, the he crashed the simulation every time because he was garbage, and he would assign Lance more work than anyone else.” Hunk turns to Lance and shrugs unapologetically. “I’m not sorry, buddy. That abuse needs to be known, man.”

  “Why?” Lance demands, actually upset. “We’re in  _ space _ , man, what does that even accomplish?”

  “It clears the air.” Pidge speaks up, leaning forward to be seen more. “That kind of abuse leaves marks, Lance. If we know it, then we can help with it.”

 “Besides, that simulator was broken.” Keith interjects, still looking  _ really _ pissed. “The left wing dragged too much. It made it impossible to complete the missions they’d assign.”

  “Wait, seriously?” Lance yelps, forgetting about his irritation quickly. “I  _ knew _ it! It never felt right!”

  “At least you were able to make it to Kerberos.” Pidge reassures. “It was always the debris around the moon that got us. It was most likely that drag that made it impossible to dodge.”

  “You actually made it to Kerberos?” Keith demands, leaning back in surprise, the anger draining from his face. “I only ever managed to make it to the surface because I knew to accommodate for the drag. But if you actually made it that far without knowing about the drag? That’s pretty badass, Lance.”

  Lance flushes, pleased. “Thanks, Keith.”  _ Oh sweet Jesus in a cradle, this boy is too good. _

  “Alright, enough blab, I have a plan.” Pidge orders, slamming her hands on the table excitedly. Her food sat on her plate, forgotten after a mere few bites. “We’re gonna play a game!”

  Shiro and Keith look at her fearfully, but Lance and Hunk both let out cheers. Lance beams, leaning closer to the tiny mastermind. “What’ve you got planned, Pidgey?”

  “Let’s move to the living room!” With that, she begins herding the whole team towards the door, Lance hopping up to help her drag Keith as she and Hunk drag Shiro. 

  “Ready for a night of family fun?” Lance wriggles eyebrows teasingly. Keith looks at him with hooded eyes, the gentle violet sparking into a much deeper, more intense mauveine. Lance hardly had time to think  _ oh dear _ before Keith was opening his mouth.

  “We could have a night of not-so-family-friendly fun, if you want.” Keith’s face slowly fills with red, like a sun rising and staining the sky orange. Lance wants to appreciate, but now they’re both just standing in the hall, gaping at each other. It doesn’t help that Lance’s head is screaming to  _ kiss him, you idiot! _

  “You look really fucking pretty, Lance,” whispers Keith. The red in his cheeks gets darker, and Lance finds it very hard to keep the distance between them planetonic.  _ Is that even what that word means?! Wait, why am I thinking about words when Keith fucking Kogane is right in front of me?! Why am I thinking at  _ all _?!  _

  Slowly, Lance realizes that Keith is leaning in, or is he the one leaning in? Either way, one of them is leaning in and Lance can feel the soft puff of Keith’s breath on his lips. Lance’s eyes can’t seem to focus on one spot, jumping from Keith’s eyes, to Keith’s hair, to Keith’s lips, just trying to take in all of  _ Keith _ . Lance notices every little detail in that moment - the dim hallway lights dancing in Keith’s gaze, the slight movement of his hair, the soft flush in his cheeks… Belatedly, Lance sees his own hand rise to gently stroke Keith’s cheek, and, to his horror, he finds that he doesn’t want to stop it. 

  Keith slightly tilts his head, and -  _ Oh God, so soft, how is his skin so soft?! _ More importantly, though, Keith suddenly whispers, “Just kiss me, already, Lance.”

  “Hey guys, aren’t you coming?” Pidge asks, popping her head around the corner. Both boys leap apart, slamming into opposite walls, as far away as they can get. Pidge narrows her eyes, glancing between the two suspiciously. “What are you two doing?”

  “Keith didn’t want to play!” Lance shouts, way too loud. “I had to convince -” Lance pauses to clear his throat and control his volume before continuing. “I had to convince him to play with us.”

  “I need no convincing to play with you, Lance.” Keith teases, before immediately groaning and covering his face. “Never mind, let’s go play some dumb games.”

  “Yeah, okay...” Pidge says slowly, still frowning slightly. “Let’s get going then, I guess.”

  Both boys follow her into the room, carefully avoiding eye contact. Inside, the other two are already sitting on the floor, surrounded by pillows and blankets, looking content. They grin at Lance and Keith as they walk in, and the five quickly settle in and look at each other.

  “So, Pidge,” Hunk says, leaning forward eagerly. “what game are we gonna play?”

  “Nothing too complicated, since we kind of have to keep it limited.” Pidge looks at all of them, excitedly wriggling in her seat. “So, we’ll play either Truth or Dare, Never Have I Ever, or Paranoia.” 

  “I love paranoia!” Lance gasps, sitting up straight, at the same time Hunk slumps back and groans, “I  _ hate _ paranoia! I have enough of it in my daily life!”

  “So that leaves truth or dare or never have I ever.” Pidge announces, clapping her hands. “Which one, boys?”

  The four guys look at each other, thinking. Slowly, one by one, they start nodding in silent agreement. Lance turns to Pidge to tell her the decision. “The answer is obvious, Pidge. We’ll play…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the next chapter is primarily based on whatever game everyone decides on. So, feel free to make suggestions! And, please, leave questions and stuff that the team can ask or say!! I want to make this next chapter something for everyone to find fun, so please leave your ideas! I'm really excited to see what you all have to say!


	5. Chapter 5

 “All of them!” Lance throws his hands up, proud of himself. Both Hunk and Shiro scowl at him, and Keith rolls his eyes.

  “Lance, that’s not what we meant!” Hunk cries, looking disappointed. Pidge shushes him, declaring, “Too late, time to play!”

  “Hold up, you two.” Shiro sighs, holding up his hands. “Hunk and I don’t want to play all three. You two do. Keith,” Shiro turns to Keith, who is glaring firmly at Lance, and says “break the tie?”

  “I think Lance is cute.” Keith flushes, staring at Lance with a mixture of horror at what he’d just said, but a bit of his relentless honesty, too. Lance feels his own face heat up in response. “I, uh, I mean right. I agree with Lance. Yeah.”

  “Smooth.” Shiro deadpans, before sighing resignedly. He faces Pidge, the unofficial leader of Game Night, and waves a hand. “Go ahead, Pidge.”

  Pidge positively  _ glows _ , and  wriggles in place as she talks. “Okay, so first we’ll play paranoia. This game is pretty simple. Let’s say we start with me, and go to my left. I would lean over and whisper a question to Hunk. For example, I could ask him something like, ‘who is most likely to get arrested for public nudity?’, and Hunk would answer for the whole circle to hear. So, say he says Lance. We then would flip my shoe, and if it lands right side up, then Hunk would have to say what the question was, but if it lands any other way, then Lance has to live with the paranoia of what the question could have been. Do you guys get it?”

  They all nod, except for Lance who grumbles, “I would  _ not  _ get arrested for  _ that _ !” 

  “You sure?” Keith grunts, raising a flirty eyebrow, the corner of his lips quirking. He stiffens, his shoulders jumping up to his ears and his cheeks color beautifully, but Lance can’t appreciate his mortification over the sound of Hunk laughing maniacally next to him.

   “So, who goes first?” Shiro asks, resting a comforting hand on Keith’s back. They all just look at him, so he shrugs. “Okay, I’ve got a question anyway.” 

  Keith, who was sitting between him and Hunk, frowns at Shiro. Shiro just smiles and leans in to whisper into his ear. Keith, thanks to the Bite, doesn’t even hesitate to blurt out his answer. “Pidge.”

  “Flip!” Pidge cries dramatically, tossing the shoe. It hits the ground and bounces once, settling on it’s side. She sighs in disappointment, but gestures to Keith good-naturedly. “Your turn, Keith.”

  Keith leans in to ask Hunk his question, and Hunk hums thoughtfully. “See, I feel like it’d be Lance, but at the same time that’s too obvious. So… Shiro.”

  “Seriously?” Keith gasps, looking at Hunk in surprise before narrowing his eyes. “Shiro?”

  “What? I bet he’s got a wild side,” laughs Hunk playfully.

  Shiro grins at Hunk as Pidge flips the shoe. It lands perfectly upside down, but Shiro doesn’t seem to mind. Hunk asks Pidge her question, and she doesn’t hesitate to shout, confidently, “Keith!”

  The shoe lands upright, so Pidge faces the confused boy with a grin. “The question was, ‘who is most likely to burn their house down because they were too stubborn to get an electrician’s help with something?’ It’s too easy.”

  “I literally lived on my own for a year - you saw my house!” Keith protests, eyebrows scrunching up and hands thrown up. “I didn’t burn anything!”

  Pidge, having already turned away, waves her hand at him. “Shh, I’m trying to ask Lance!” She leans in, smiling with far too much innocence, and asks her question. “Who do you think would make the best boyfriend?”   
  “Keith, du - uh, haha, wait.” Lance stammers, trying to cover up just how quick his answer was. He coughs, blushing and avoiding everyone’s gazes. “Just flip the stupid shoe.”

  It lands -  _ thank God _ \- upside down. Lance sees Keith slump in disappointment, and tries to ignore the warmth in his chest from just how  _ cute _ Keith is.  _ It isn’t fair. At all.  _ The game carries on, with some increasingly weird questions.

* * *

“Lance.”

  “Flip!”

  A pause. Then…

  “Who would meet their favorite celebrity but not recognize them until it was too late?”

* * *

“Shiro.”

  “Flip it!”

   .......

  “You know, I’d like to hear at least  _ one _ of these questions about me.”

* * *

 “Pidge?”

   “This bitch better be upright -”

  “Pidge!”

  “Sorry, Shiro!”

   Another pause.

   “Damn.”

   “ _ Pidge _ !”

   “ _ Sorry _ , Shiro!”

* * *

Next to him, Hunk was passed out. He had fallen asleep sometime after Keith revealed that he found found Pidge to be the Paladin that could easily take over the universe, but had stayed awake to tell the group that he thought Lance was the prettiest Paladin. Lance knew Shiro and Pidge both took offence, but, honestly? They never stood a chance. Lance is still unbearably smug as he gently wakes Hunk and sends him to bed.

   After Hunk left, the remaining three settle down again, this time readying themselves for ‘never have I ever’. Pidge explains the rules quickly. “Since we can’t really drink, we’ll do it a bit differently. Every time someone says something that you have done, you put a finger down. First to put down all ten loses, and loser has to do something that the winner decides. The winner is the last one standing. Ready? I’ll start, since I’m the youngest.”

  She looks at them all shiftily, like a cowboy about to draw for a duel. They all sit, holding up both hands with all ten fingers, looking at her expectantly. Finally, she speaks. “Never have I ever been on a date!”

  Shiro puts a finger down, as does Lance. Keith immediately demands, “Who have you gone out with, Lance? Because Nyma totally doesn’t count.”

  “First off, Mullet,” Lance grumbles, scowling indignantly, “Nyma totally  _ does  _ count. Secondly, I went out with this one girl, Micki, back on earth a few times in eighth grade. Then I decided her brother was cuter, so she dumped me.” Lance pauses, remembering how broken up he had once been about it. Now, though, it seemed more funny than anything else, so he swoons dramatically, hand clutching his chest. “Honestly, how I survived such a horrible heartbreak I’ll never know.”

  His friends all laugh, and Lance sits back up with a laugh of his own. Pidge nudges him, so he says the next one. “Never have I ever taken part of a bar fight.”

   Keith scowls as he puts down his finger, and Lance smiles sweetly at him in return. Shiro clears his throat as he takes his turn. “Never have I ever… oh! Never have I ever seen a snake.”

  The younger three Paladins all stare at him for a long moment before Keith speaks up. “ _ How _ have you never seen a snake? You went to the Garrison, in the  _ desert _ !”

  “Well,” Shiro blushes and scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. “I… kind of really hate snakes? Any time I even thought there was one, I would just kind of… run for it.”

  Pidge and Keith burst into laughter, but Lance is just gaping at Shiro in shock. Eventually, they snap out of their amused shock and all lower a finger, then turn as one to look at Keith expectantly. He fidgets, before blurting out, “Never have I ever been to the beach.”

   Lance narrows his eyes into a glare as he slowly lowers one more finger. He doesn’t care that both Pidge and Shiro do too. This is  _ personal _ , never mind the fact that Lance had started it. “Bring it, Mullet.”

  “Get better insults, noodle boy.” Keith doesn’t even miss a beat. Lance squawks, trying to make his sense of absolute  _ betrayal _ known, but Pidge and Shiro are laughing too hard for him to be heard. Keith gives him a sheepish smile from across their small circle, and Lance feels himself melt a little.  _ Someone,  _ please _ tell me how to be angry with his when he’s this damn cute! Seriously, it seems like that’s something I should probably know how to do.  _

  “Okay, okay, my turn!” Pidge flaps her hands at Shiro to hush him as she speaks. “Never have I ever lived out of state - until space, that is.”

  All three boys put a finger down this time. She quirks an eyebrow at them, silently asking. Lance speaks up first. “I lived in Cuba for a few months when I was younger, since we went to visit but had to stay for a lot longer than planned. It turned out okay, though, so no one really minded.” He smiles and nods to Shiro.

  “I’m actually from Japan,” he tells them warmly. “I moved to the States when I was four or five, so I don’t remember it much, but my parents made sure to raise me with a sense of my culture.”

  “That’s so cool!” Pidge exclaims, excitedly, at the same time Keith announces, “He speaks Naruto, too.”

  Lance barks out a surprised laugh as Pidge chokes on her own spit. Shiro, suspiciously, reddens. Keith smiles mischievously at Shiro, obviously enjoying his reaction, before explaining to the others. “Shiro and I met when we were kids and I moved in next door. I was, like, ten or eleven, and I think he was seventeen. I was super quiet, so he thought I spoke Korean, since that’s where my dad’s from, so he tried telling me that he knew Japanese and stuff, but I wasn’t really listening. He kind of panicked and wound up yelling, ‘I speak the Naruto!’ and waving his hands like a maniac.”

  Lance and Pidge are laughing so hard, it’s hard to even hear Keith’s story. Lance, at some point, had fallen over, so now he just lays on the ground, wheezing and choking on laughter. Pidge gives herself the hiccups with her own laughing, and Shiro is groaning. Keith just sits there, looking delighted with himself at everyone’s reactions. 

  It takes a long time for them to calm down, since every time they look at each other they start laughing all over again, but they finally settle. Pidge is still hiccupping, and Lance has to wipe his eyes, but they’re finally calm. Pidge, stifling the remnants of her giggles, looks at Lance. “It’s your - haha - your turn, Lance.”

  “Cool, cool, cool, I got it,” Lance giggles. “Okay, so, never have I ever, uh, I don’t know, gotten into a fight with an animal.”

  “Lance,  _ what _ ?” Shiro asks, laughing a bit. “Why is  _ that _ what you go for?”

   Lance, still giggling himself, shrugs. “I don’t know, I panicked a bit.”

  “Well, no one’s gonna - oh my God, Keith,  _ what _ ?!” Pidge gasps, pointing to Keith who is shifting awkwardly as he lowers his fourth finger. Keith flushes and snaps, “It was a stupid raccoon, okay?”

  “Keith,” Shiro looks so  _ tired _ , “I hate that I even have to ask, but  _ why _ did you fight a raccoon?”

  “I don’t wanna get into it.” Keith grumbles, pouting. “Just take your turn, Shiro.”

  “Fine, fine.” Shiro honestly looks so done, it’s no surprise that he just grumbles out an easy one. “Never have I ever eaten food that wasn’t from the Garrison or Japanese.”

  Keith lowers his fifth finger, Pidge her third, and Lance his fifth. Pidge yawns widely before nodding to Keith to take his turn. He pauses thoughtfully, before locking eyes with Lance and smiling playfully. “Never have I ever been a cargo pilot.”

  “I hate you.” Lance lowers another finger slowly, hissing all the while. Pidge snorts and rolls her eyes, and Shiro huffs.

  “Never have I ever,” Pidge breaks in before Lance can start, “blown anything up.”

  Shiro lowers a fourth finger with a shrug, saying “Garrison exercise.” Keith lowers one and scowls, even though Lance has to put one down, too(it’s not his fault if Blue’s sonar just so happens to cause really amazing explosions!) . Lance tries not to think of just how many explosions this boy must have caused over the years, and he  _ certainly _ doesn’t find that attractive. Nope, nu-uh, no way.

  “Never have I ever flown a hoverbike!” Lance blurts, pointing dramatically at Keith, who slowly lowers his seventh finger. Shiro and Pidge roll their eyes, but Lance ignores them in favor of taking in the pretty way Keith’s face flushes. 

  “Never have I ever kissed anyone,” Pidge confesses casually, and, once again, all three boys go down. Keith is down seven, Lance is down 

  “Never have I ever baked cookies.” Keith declares, smirking as each of the others put down a finger. Lance frowns at his one remaining finger before glancing at Keith’s two fingers.  _ Oh shit. _

  Pidge smiles sweetly at both boys, now holding their fate in her hands. Lance looks at her desperately, having caught on before Keith, and whispers “I took so much shit from Iverson from  _ this moment _ , Pidge. For this very moment.” 

  Pidge scowls at him before rolling her eyes and heaving a sigh. “Fine, you big baby. Never have I ever lived alone in the desert for a year.”

  Keith lets out a yelp and leans forward to scowl at Lance. “That’s cheating!”

  “Is not!” Lance snaps back reflexively, leaning forward as well. Before Keith could do anything else, Lance hurries to say “Never have I ever had black hair!”

  “Lance!” Keith growls, infuriated as he drops his last finger. “That was  _ cheating _ ! You played dirty!”

  “I played to win!” Lance cheers, jumping to his feet and bouncing excitedly. Shiro slowly stands up, as does Pidge, and calls it a night.

  “But you guys haven’t gone down yet.” Lance says, pointedly ignoring Keith’s glare as the Red Paladin stands up, too. 

  “Who cares?” Shiro laughs. “Pidge and I already know that you two lost, so we’re happy.”

  “Yeah, Lance,” Pidge pauses to yawn, “I don’t really care. Shiro wins, you and Keith lose, it’s a good day. Besides, I’m tired.”

  “But we didn’t even play truth or dare,” Lance whines, but the others are already out the door. Pidge calls over her shoulder, “Just play with Keith!”

  Keith jumps a little and bites out, “I’m here, I’m listening.” He pauses and looks around the room, breaking his glare for once, and blinks in surprise. “Why did they leave?”

  Lance shrugs. “They just went to bed. Wanna play truth or dare?”

  “I’m not sure, Lance.” Keith grumbles, quickly looking at the ground. Lance pouts, then gathers his courage. He steps a bit closer to Keith, who doesn’t move, and slowly raises a hand to ( _ please don’t hit me, please don’t hit me, I want to keep playing, so please don’t hit me you beautiful ball of anger _ ) cup Keith’s cheek. Keith inhales sharply, then raises his eyes to blink up at Lance. 

  “Please? Just one little game?” Lance murmurs, looking directly into Keith’s deep, violet eyes.

  Keith nods and speaks dumbly. “Uh-huh, sure, no problem, Lance.”

  Lance grins and steps back. “Great! Let’s play!”  _ Well, I’d have to be an idiot to not notice  _ that _ reaction! Plus, you know, every other flirty thing he’s said. Well, let’s hope this goes well. Maybe we can finish what we started in the hallway. _ “Truth or dare, Keith?”

  “Truth.” Keith answers, sounding a lot more put together than he had a moment ago. Lance grins, and Keith seems to realize his mistake. “Wait, no, dare, I meant dare!”

  “Too late, bug boy!” Lance rubs his hands together, laughing evilly. “Now, for the most important question to ever be questioned!”

  “You mean asked?” Keith interrupts. Lance swats him on the arm before continuing.

  “You, Keith, Red Paladin, must tell me…”  _ Pause for dramatic effect _ … “what your favorite color is.”

  “What.” Keith deadpans. “Seriously? It’s purple.”

  “Wait, really?” Lance asks, actually surprised. “I thought it would have been -”

  “Red?” Keith smiles a little. “Nah. It used to be, though. Anyway, truth or dare, Lance?”

  “Truth!”  _ Fair’s fair, after all. _

  “Do you like me?” Keith asks. He freezes up, panic written across his features. “Wait, shit - I mean, sorry, I -”

_ Now or never, buddy. _

  “Keith, of course I do.” Lance says softly, gently placing his hand lightly on his friend’s shoulder. 

  Keith looks surprised, his cheeks still a lovely pink. “You do? You, uh, like me?”

  “Yeah.”  _ Oh my god, does he think I just mean as friends? _ “Truth or dare, Keith.”

  “Dare.” Keith’s still a little surprised, but his answer is firm.

  “I dare you to tell me whether or not you like me.” Lance pauses, caught off guard by his own rashness. He doesn’t stand down, though. 

  Keith doesn’t step down either. “Yes. I do.” He swallows thickly, the movement of his throat catching Lance’s eye. “Truth or dare, Blue.”

  “Dare.”  _ Lance and Keith, neck and neck _ . Lance can hardly hear himself speak over the roaring of his blood, let alone think. He should’ve known that he’d still be able to hear Keith’s voice loud and clear, though.

  “I dare you to kiss me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is super late! I've had a crazy stressful weak, lemme tell ya.  
>  Anyway, I got a ton of incredible comments???? Like, more so than usual???? So, naturally, I figured, fuck it, go big or go home, right? Sorry to leave you like that, though! I'm working on writing kisses, so that's where we'll pick up next chapter, after I've had time to work with it more.   
> Thank you all so much for all the wonderful support I've gotten. Every kudos and comment is a bout of motivation and inspiration! So, please, leave some more!  
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

  Lance had only ever kissed three people. He tries to remember their names, but eighth grade games of spin the bottle were suddenly much harder to recall. It had just been the quick press of lips, and Lance had found them all to be rather unremarkable. Kissing Keith is nothing like that. 

  This kiss is  _ warm, _ lingering, and so, so good. Keith cups his face, gently guiding Lance as he leans in, and doesn’t let go. Their lips are pressed together, immobile, but soft. Lance can’t tell if the warmth is from Keith’s hands, or from his lips, or from the press of his body against Lance’s. Maybe it’s all three. Maybe it’s something more, maybe it’s the warmth from his own chest spreading through him. All Lance knows is that he is on  _ fire _ and it’s Keith’s fault. 

  Lance is surprisingly okay with things being Keith’s fault nowadays. 

   Suddenly Keith moves his lips and  _ ay por dios, _ this boy can  _ kiss.  _ Lance hums his appreciation and tries moving his own lips. The kiss goes from good to amazing to  _ really, amazingly, good. _ Keith growls in response and runs his hands up to Lance’s hair and tugs a little. Lance allows Keith to guide his head down to an angle, and their lips lock.  _ Every time I think this is as good as it can be, he just blows me away all over again. _

  Slowly, Lance sinks further and further into the sensation of the kiss, lost in the taste of Keith. It had been ages since they were last on earth, and yet Keith somehow manages to taste like campfires and cinnamon, like running and jumping off a cliff, like diving into the cool ocean to escape the heat of summer. Keith tastes like all of Lance’s favorite things.

  Keith pulls away, and Lance has to fight off a whine of disappointment. Then he’s looking into those eyes, and he finds he can’t complain. The usually dark violet was now brighter than Lance had ever seen. They were wide, and Lance suddenly can’t recall what stars look like because they’re all in Keith’s eyes. 

  “That was even better than I’d thought it’d be.” Keith whispers softly. He doesn’t look away, his voice doesn’t falter, and Lance feels his heart swell.  _ If he meant to say that, then that’s the sweetest thing ever. And if he didn’t then he’s owning up to it and I can’t decide which is better. _

  “Yeah,” Lance agrees aloud. “It really was. Wanna do it again?”

   “Don’t you wanna talk?” Keith asks, then frowns slightly, his eyebrows pinched. “I don’t know why I asked that.”

  Lance laughs softly, enjoying the lingering hands still absentmindedly stroking his hair. “We can talk later, I guess. I don’t see a reason to talk, though.”

  “Don’t you wanna talk about us?” Keith demands, his from increasing. Then he pauses, his mind catching up with his mouth, and he flushes dramatically. “I mean, uh, if this is an  _ us  _ thing, I don’t - we don’t have to - huh -”

  “Keith, chill.” Lance takes pity and cuts him off. He leans back in, settling for resting their foreheads together rather than joining their lips like he wants to. “I want to be an us. Do you?”

  “Yes.” Lance tries to not let Keith’s certainty get to his head, but there’s already a big, goofy grin spreading across his face and his chest feels all light.

  “Alright, then. We’re an us.” Lance can’t really be blamed for keeping it so brief, especially when Keith looks at him like  _ that, _ all flushed and pink-lipped, looking thoroughly kissed out and in awe. So Lance kisses him, yet again, but this time it's cut short because he's smiling too wide. Keith’s smiling too wide, to, so he doesn’t seem to mind. Lance laughs softly.

  “Your laugh is the best thing I’ve ever heard,” Keith whispers. Lance feels himself stiffen, caught off guard.

  “Keith!” Lance whines, moving to bury his face in his shoulder. When he next speaks, he knows it’s muffled, but he doesn’t care. “You can’t just  _ say _ cute stuff like that! My poor heart can’t take it!”

  “Well, at least someone else is finally more embarrassed than me.” Keith chuckles, and Lance can feel the vibrations from it. He doesn’t understand why such a simple fact fills him with warmth, but it does.  _ I can feel him laugh! He’s letting me close enough to feel him laugh, because he  _ likes  _ me! _

  Lance just groans, lost in contentment and humiliation. “Keith, babe,  _ please _ quit being so cute.”

  “Just like your ass, I don’t quit,” he quips. Lance pulls back to look at his boyfriend (just that single word has his head full of excited exclamation points, like a squirrel on a sugar high) in shock, before guffawing. Keith just groans.

  “That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me,” Lance coos playfully. Keith just frowns, unimpressed, making Lance laugh again. “Seriously, though,” Lance calms his laughter enough to talk, “I think you’re trying to kill me. Every time you open your mouth you say something really, uh, funny, and I die a little more.”

  “I’m already dead.” Keith pulls back a little bit, finally breaking their strange embrace. He looks at the ground, thoroughly disgruntled, and scowls as he speaks. “Sorry, Lance. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I just -”

  “Woah, there, Mullet McGee!” Lance protests, stepping forward to close the gap again, taking Keith’s hands in his. He smiles reassuringly at his (adorable, amazing, sweet, feisty, remarkable, fantastic, incredi-)  _ boyfriend _ as he peeks up at Lance through his bangs. The sight is almost enough to make Lance forget what he was about to say, so he shakes his head and talks quickly, before he really can forget. “If I was uncomfortable I wouldn’t agree to dating you, right? Besides, I don’t know why you’d think I was, I’d love to get comfortable with you - uh, wait, that sounds wrong - not that I wouldn’t want to get comfortable  _ that _ way, it’s just so soon, I mean, um, I just think you’re nice and I like your eyes, and -”

   “Okay, Lance!” Keith covers Lance’s mouth with his hand, making him shut up, and laughs. Lance goes still as he watches. The laugh starts in Keith’s shoulders, making them shake, before exploding from his mouth in a burst of noise. Lance could listen to the loud, boisterous noise of one of Keith’s rare laughs for  _ hours. _ As it is, he only gets to listen for a few moments before Keith reins it in, still smiling. “I get it.”

  Lance just smiles back, before quickly sticking his tongue out and licking Keith’s hand. Keith snatches it away, squawking in indignance. Lance smirks. “Gotcha good, Mullet!”

  Internally, Lance is screaming though.  _ Why did I lick him?! We were having a  _ moment, _ but I ruined it! By  _ licking  _ him, like some little kid! What the hell?! Why did I have to make it weird? _

  “If you wanted to lick me so bad, you could’ve just asked.” Keith offers, breaking Lance’s train of thought. Both pause as they process his words, before Keith just sighs heavily. “You know what? I’m done. I definitely can not make myself want to die any more than I already have. I’m just gonna own up to the stupid shit I say. Fuck it.”

  “Well, someone might as well not be mortified every time you speak.” Lance offers optimistically. “It might as well be you.”

  “I thought it was ‘us’ now?” Keith asks cheekily, raising an eyebrow. Lance waves a hand airily.

  “Nope, this is all you Mullet. I refuse to take ownership of your weirdness.” Lance smiles to let Keith know that he’s kidding, but he immediately gapes instead when Keith speaks next.

  “What if wanting you taking ownership is part of my weirdness?” Keith lets his words sink in before groaning. “Alright, that’s it.” He kisses a still processing Lance on the cheek and spins around to leave. “Goodnight, I still really like you and I like us, sweet dreams, I’m leaving. I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one day. Kiss ya later.” With that, he’s gone.

  Lance goes straight to bed after that. He definitely  _ does not _ dance around the room, bounce around the room, nor does he squeal into a pillow for a solid ten minutes. None of that happens, no way, no how. He is cool, calm, and collected. Totally worthy of a badass boyfriend. He also  _ doesn’t _ ‘giggle’ like a little kid every time he thinks ‘boyfriend’. None of that happens.

  When he lays in bed, though, he just stops denying it to himself.  _ I am the biggest loser ever. But who cares? This loser just got a  _ boyfriend,  _ so hah! A super cute boyfriend, with eyes like exploding stars and a temper like a wildfire… _

   Lance may or may not fall asleep mentally complementing Keith, but who knows? Lance will never tell.

(He totally does.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sosososo so sorry!!! I have been insanely busy these last few weeks! I have to keep my grades up and I have to get ready for college and work and the play that I'm in - this whole season has been a /nightmare/!!!!  
> I don't know how long it will take for my next update, but I am doing the best that I can! Please keep leaving kudos and comments, they totally help out! I'm struggling with life in general, but my most pressing issue is my lack of sunlight. I wake up and go to school before the sun even rises, and then I'm in school all day, and then I go to rehearsal in our black box theater and quote Shakespeare for two and a half hours. And /then/ I go home, well after dark, do my homework, clean my house, and then finally get ready to go to bed. I haven't been in the sunlight since the beginning of /November/. So, yeah, comments are super encouraging. They really let me know people actually like this fic (for whatever reason), and they're like a warm hug that gives me energy enough to write.   
> So, please, keep being amazing, keep leaving me comments/kudos, and know that I will not give up on this fic!!! We've made it this far, so I plan to bring it home. Thanks for reading!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

 The next morning brings Pidge and Hunk barreling into Lance’s room. Lance shoots up in alarm, flashbacks of young nieces and nephews tackling him striking him dumb. He barely pulls himself to the present in time to take Pidge knee straight to the gut. Lance wheezes in agony, curling into a ball as Pidge innocently bounces next to him. Above him, Hunk winces in sympathy.

  “Lance!” Pidge cries, shaking his shoulder. “Hurry up, let's  _ go!” _

  “Go  _ where?!” _ Lance is still struggling to catch his breath, which makes him sound irritable. He's not mad at Pidge, not  _ really, _ but he can't be bothered to soften his tone. Pidge doesn't seem to mind, though. She keeps bouncing next to his curled up form, still excited. 

  “To Setibevol!” Hunk pipes up, gently helping Lance get up. Lance raises a skeptical eyebrow at his friends. He loves them dearly, he does, but seriously?  _ We go to planets all the time, what's so special about this one? _

__ Pidge, seemingly reading his expression, elaborates. “It's super close to Earth’s atmosphere and geographic make-up. It'll be like being home!”

  “Plus,” Hunk adds, “Lance, it's  _ raining!” _

   That caught his attention. He leaps from the bed, knocking Pidge to the ground, and tries to flee. Hunk scoops him up effortlessly, and redirects him to his closet. Lance, still mid-run, barrels into said closet. Lucky for him, though, Keith chooses to enter his room. From the floor, Lance groans in pain and embarrassment. “Sure, samurai, join the bedroom party.”

  “I’m not sure you’re using that term correctly.” Keith muses, peering down at Lance curiously. The handsome bastard is already dressed and wide awake and  _ damn those gloved hands look good on his hips. _ Lance grunts in lieu of a response and rolls himself to his feet. He runs a hand through his messy hair and grimaces internally.  _ Great. Day one with a super cute boyfriend and the first time he sees me I look like a mess. Awesome way to kick things off. _ He turns to Keith, apology on his lips, but Keith’s expression stops him.

  Keith’s eyes are wide, his face smooth and open. Lance can suddenly read his boyfriend’s thoughts like an open book, which has never happened before, but he can’t bring himself to be ecstatic when he can’t even understand what he’s reading.  _ Awe? Delight? ...Lo- _

  “You look beautiful.” The whisper shocks him more than his own thoughts, and Lance gapes like an idiot. Behind him, he faintly hears Pidge and Hunk giggling as they make a quick exit, but he can’t bring himself to care. Not when Keith called him  _ beautiful. _

  “I look like a mess!” Aaaaannndd… He’s ruined it. It’s all over, Keith’s gonna dump him, he’s gonna laugh, the whole ship will know in mere moments. Hell, the entire planet of Setibevol will know, and they’ll all laugh to hard to take him seriously and he’ll have to give up being a Paladin because Blue deserves a Paladin who gets taken seriously, not some idiot who immediately points out his own flaws to the person he wants to impress.  _ And here I was, thinking Mama  _ didn’t _ raise an idiot! _

   “Then you are literally the most beautiful mess I’ve ever seen, Lance.” Keith gently cups Lance’s chin, the contact burning across his face like the first rays of sunlight after a dark winter. Lance smiles, feels the dorky grin split his face, and he tries to look into the nebulae within Keith’s eyes but, honestly, that fire has always been too hot for him to touch and it’s burning so  _ brightly, _ even in this stupid, dim room. Keith’s eyes should be glaring into a battle, staring down enemies, inspiring allies, igniting revolutions, destroying corrupt empires - not staring at a goofball who just rolled out of bed.  _ I’m just a boy from Cuba who misses the ocean and his mom. I’m nothing special. _ But, apparently, he  _ is. _ He’d have to be, to get Keith to look at him like  _ that. _

  Keith is looking at Lance the same way he’d looked at Blue when they’d first met. He looked like he was staring every last one of his goal in the face, like all of his dreams and desires are right in front of him( _ why did ‘desire’ suddenly sound a lot more interesting the second Keith is added to the context? _ ). Keith looks at Lance the way he looks after defeating a new level against the Gladiator. The same way Keith looks at victory, the way he looks at the distant stars, the way he looks at the ever expanding galaxies before them. He looks at Lance with adoration and longing and it totally steals Lance’s breath away.

  So, naturally, Lance blushes and giggles and tries to turn away. He’s a bit giddy, too, but who can blame him? It’s not every day his very pretty boyfriend looks at him with such… fervor.  _ Maybe it  _ will _ become an everyday thing, though? _ God, he can only hope.

   Keith smiles, suddenly, and Lance still can’t bear to look at him directly. No matter how gorgeous his boyfriend is, Lance knows he’d combust the second he peeked.  _ I love fish and underwater plants, but if I open my eyes in the ocean it hurts. This is just like that. Only, I don’t think I want to kiss the ocean? Maybe? No, definitely not, that’s weird. Is it? Yes! It is! Wait, focus, I have a cute boyfriend to kiss now! Oh, he’s talking, shit, gotta tune in! _

  “You are really fucking cute, you know that?” Keith’s voice alone should be illegal, what with i’s raspy goodness. But, paired with that gentle look? Buy Lance a coffin because he is so  _ gone. _

   “Keith, buddy?” Lance squeaks - like a man - as he flaps his hands around. “I’m gonna need you to not be all cute and complimentary so early, okay? My heart literally cannot take it.”

  “Lance?” Keith is suddenly very close and all Lance can see is those  _ eyes, _ but he’s still talking so Lance forces himself to focus. “I’m gonna need you to not call me buddy when I’m about to kiss you.”

  Again, Lance giggles. He clears his throat and tries to cover it up quickly, though. “How will I know when you’re about to kiss me? What if i don’t know and I call you buddy?”

  “Just try to function under the idea that I am  _ always _ about to kiss you.” Keith is so close Lance feels his breath on his own lips, and the sensation is sending fire and ice shooting through him all at once and Lance has never known a burn this cold before and he’s  _ living. _ “You’ll most likely always be right.”

   Then there’s his lips and,  _ oh, _ this is what melting feels like. Or is it being frozen? No, Lance can feel his own lips moving in time to Keith’s and it feels just as amazing as it had the last time.  _ I can’t decide if I love or hate the fact that Keith has made it impossible for me to want to sleep? I’ve literally never met someone who is better in reality than in dreams, but, then again, I’ve never met someone like Keith before. I guess it balances out. _

  Before either boy can get too lost in the feel of the other, the door is sliding open again and they’re being pulled apart. Lance tries to feel humiliated that Hunk not only walked in on him making out with Keith, but also had to pull them apart. He really does try to find any shame, any at all, but all he manages is vague annoyance that his new favorite hobby was just interrupted. Hunk just dangles Lance remorselessly, and slowly raises one, very judgmental, eyebrow. Lance pouts and turns away.

  “Sorry not sorry, guys!” Hunk says cheerfully. “But we’re all waiting on you two, so I’m here to drag Keith away so Lance can get dressed and we can finally get on-planet. This is gonna be fun!”

  With that, his beautiful boyfriend is gone. Lance gorans and slides to the floor, letting the freezing alien metal combat the cold flames still roiling beneath his skin.  _ Well, this sucks. _

   Then again, it  _ is _ raining on the new planet, and he had a very real chance of dancing in said rain, perhaps with a cute boyfriend, ahead of him, so…

  Lance has never been, and will never again be, ready in such little time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi I'm not dead! Barely. So, brief summary: last week my play went up so it was Hell Week, and then this past week I had to run around doing Christmas shopping and other various things, and then I've been hella sick the last few days. Like, I only get Sick once a year, so this was my once a year thing and it completely knocked me on my ass for a good few days.   
> Anyway, I'm gonna try to do what I can with updates(I will try for a second one very soon) and we'll all hope for the best. I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS FIC!!!!!! Don't worry!! I love it and all of you way too much to just trash this!  
> Finally, thank you all SO MUCH for all of the support! I seriously would have dropped this story forever ago but you all love it and you let me know it and, for that, I am eternally grateful. I keep writing because you all keep encouraging and I read every last comment and I appreciate every last kudos. Without you all, this whole, beautiful train-wreck would have burned out long ago. But you all keep adding to the fire, and because of that, this fic keeps burning! (Stupid analogy is stupid, but whatever moving on)  
> Please keep leaving encouragement-every bit helps me know that people actually enjoy this, and it all keeps me writing. I love you all!!! (Also Happy Holidays! I personally celebrate Christmas, but I hope everyone is having a nice break from school if you still go, or that everyone just finds some time to relax. So, have a nice end of year!)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back at it again with this bullshit

  In Lance’s defense, this is all Keith’s fault. No less than six buildings are on fire, Pidge’s arm is dislocated, two towers have been toppled, and Shiro is missing. Lance himself is standing in the center of the cobbled street, breathing ragged and pained, covered in soot, and slightly panicking. He looks around and sees the residential area around him has yet to be affected by more than some smoke, so that’s a plus. Hunk and Pidge, on his left, stand firm and sure. Hunk is directing the flow of citizens while also shielding Pidge from the stampede. 

  Lance catches Hunk’s eye and calls over, “have you seen the Princess yet?”

  “No, and Keith still isn’t replying over the comms!” Hunk is frustrated, Lance can see it in his furrowed brow and slight frown. Pidge pokes her head out from Hunk’s back, her paler-than-usual face flushed with irritation and pain.

   “Lance, control your man!” She means it to be scathing, but honestly Lance has to seriously struggle to not smile at her words.  _ My man. I like that.  _ Just then, though, a building several blocks away explodes and Lance finds himself sighing heavily.  _ Yep. That’s my man. Dammit. _

  Lance knows that they’ve only been on-planet for roughly two hours, but Keith has always worked fast. 

 

_ The planet, as far as Lance can see, really does look like Earth. It’s covered in blue, sparkling water, and green and brown land formations. As the Castle of Lions gets closer, Lance can see they’re aiming to land far inland, not far from what looks to be a big city. Their buildings are all strange… bubbles? They’re spherical, clear, and seem to be kept from floating away by a simple chain. They land in a large, cleared area, kind of like an airplane’s landing… place. Lane tries and fails to think of the term, but he can’t be bothered to care. _

_   He’s standing with the others in front of a large window, watching the storm raising hell overhead. The flashes of lightning are a neon pink and the thunder sounds like church bells, but there’s  _ rain _ and it looks so familiar, it makes his breath catch. Lance feels something swell up in him, something beautiful and ugly and strong and trembling all at once. It’s the feeling of seeing something so close to home, something almost exactly like it, but… almost. Almost almost almost. It’s  _ almost _ Earth, it’s  _ almost _ a normal storm, it’s  _ almost _ home. Lance has never been more grateful or more furious over such a silly thing as a word, but he’s been through stranger things.  _

_   But the ache in him is soothed by the arms around his waist, the weight against his side, the warm breath on his neck. Keith points up, pulling Lance from his spiralling thoughts. _

_   “Look,” Keith’s voice is soft, so soft, his words spoken only for Lance’s ear, “I think their lightning comes in intervals. Watch, in three, two…” Right on cue, a flash of pink. _

_   Lance laughs in awe and turns to the Red Paladin. Keith’s face is softened in the flash of pink and the soft lighting of the castle. The edges of his harsh face are smooth, relaxed, in the way that only Lance ever seems to see.  _

_   “Only you would pay attention to that kind of thing, McMullet.” Lance teases, twisting in his grip to face Keith fully, until they’re nose to nose, smiles mere inches away from each other.  _

_   “You can’t make fun of my tastes, Lance.” Keith murmurs knowingly. _

_   “Oh?” Lance coos, tilting his head to the side. “And why not?” _

_   “Because  _ you’re  _ my taste. Duh.” Keith suddenly narrows his eyes and leans in and Lance, good, pure, gullible Lance, leans in too, expecting a sweet kiss from his sweet boyfriend. Instead, he gets a gros lick across his nose. _

_   Lance shrieks dramatically and leaps away, viciously wiping at his face. He turns to yell at Keith, but freezes when he sees him. Keith’s face is scrunched up, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth wide open. He throws his head back, laughter ringing clearly. Lance smiles and shakes his head. Before he can tell Keith just how cute he is, or kiss him, or just admire the sight, or even all of the above, the door behind them slides open. Lance is pretty sure that it was Shiro coming to fetch them to get ready, but Keith smiles at him and suddenly the universe is no larger than the boy with black hair and a golden heart. _

 

__ “Lance? Hunk!” Shiro’s voice cackles to life in Lance’s ear and both he and Hunk stand at attention reflexively. “Are you two and Pidge okay? Have you completed your sweep of the area?”

  “We’re fine!” Lance reassures, since Hunk is busy pointing the way for the last of the natives. “We just finished, and now we’re finishing up clearing out a residential block. We haven’t seen or heard anything yet.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled.” Shiro’s voice is strained, and Lance can hear shouting in the background. He edges closer to Hunk and Pidge, who are both listening using Hunk’s helmet. “If we want to find the princess and Keith, we have to think like Keith.” With a muffled curse and muffled speech from Coran, Shiro signs off.

   “Alright, where would a desert rat hide if tossed into the city?” Pidge’s voice is snarky, but Hunk seems to not catch it. That, or he ignores it and takes her seriously.

  “Well, rats like dark places, where it’s easy for them to hide  _ and _ blend in, right?” Hunk has his Reasoning Voice, the same thoughtful lilt as when he’s working on a machine and trying to figure out what it does. Only this time, the machine is Keith, but also a rat? Lance isn’t sure he’s comfortable with how spot-on this whole rat thing is turning out to be.  _ I am not dating a rat. Keith is not a rat, he’s just a scrappy guy that doesn’t think things through, and he likes to stay in quiet places, and his mom is most likely a space cat/bat warrior with soft fur and ears and.... Oh my god I’m dating a rat! _

   “Well, where do we know that’s generally dark and quiet and a bit shady?” Pidge asks, seeming to have meant the desert rat insult. “Somewhere that would be difficult to get a signal, somewhere easy to hide?” Slowly, the three of them turn to look down at the center of the street. They all fight down groans of exhaustion and disgust as Lance calls up Shiro. None of them look away from the grate.

  “Shiro? Yeah, we’re hitting the sewers. Wish us luck.”

 

_ The inhabitants of Setibevol are large, roughly twice Lance’s height, and they’re covered in scales and, most likely, slime. They look like a cross between a python, bearded dragon, and chameleon. Lance is torn between being kind of grossed out and very impressed. It looks like it takes a lot of effort to not pierce their(solid gray) tongues with their giant fangs.  _

_   One of them, the King, is speaking with Allura. His voice is raspy, as though he had never spoken before, and his tongue flicks distractingly every other word. Allura, to her credit, doesn’t break eye contact once, and instead keeps a dignified air while they negotiate the logistics of joining the Coalition. The rest of the Paladins are standing in line behind, still as statues. Lance, internally, is fidgeting, but he didn’t spend those years at the Garrison learning nothing.  _ I can stand still, dammit. I  _ can. _

_   Behind the King, poorly concealed, is a small creature. Her scales are a soft violet, light around her head and darkening to near-black around her tail, which she hugs like a teddy bear. She blinks at Lance shyly, her eyelids closing vertically over green gaze. Lance offers a small wave, and the girl ducks out of sight again. Lance sighs slightly and straightens up. Next to him, Keith gives him a teasing grin. Lance huffs and ignores it, but he can’t ignore the please flush on his face that comes from Keith’s attention. Both boys turn to pay attention. Or, in Lance’s case, pretend to pay attention. _

_   The king suddenly gestures towards the giant cluster of bubbles floating several meters above their heads, and Lance overhears something about getting comfortable inside. Lance looks up eagerly, excited to hang out in a floating house, but while he’s looking up Keith is looking down. _

_   In any other instance, Lance would have let it become a Thing, that even when they’re together they’re always doing something different. When Lance is up, bouncing and running his mouth, Keith is down, quiet and observant. When tragedy strikes, Lance feels ice settle in his veins, feels himself freeze and shut down. Keith feels his bones ignite, he works himself until his inner fire is exposed and burning the world as much as it burns him. When Keith is lost in the stars, Lance is reaching back for Earth. They’re opposites, but they balance out.  _

_   This time, though, Keith is looking down because he had been glaring at one of the guards. Lance is looking up because the bubble castle reflected light and made the sky sparkle, even in the rain.  _

_   Lance hears it later from Keith, so he knows that Keith saw the guard pull a gun, saw her reach for the little girl, the Princess, and Lance knows that Keith grabbed the girl and tried to shield her with his body. _

_   At the time, though, Lance just felt Keith shove him as a gun goes off and shouting erupts, and suddenly he’s on his back and Keith has a shit ton guns to his head. Lance leaps up, confused and scared and not entirely sure that what he’s seeing is real. But it is, he can tell because Hunk and Pidge are reaching in vain for their friend, the King’s more loyal guards are shielding him, and ALlura and Shiro have weapons drawn and are demanding answers. Lance pulls out his bayard, but doesn’t dare activate it.  _

_   There’s more screaming, and suddenly there’s a car involved, and Lance can’t even admire that it’s like something straight out of  _ Back to the Future  _ because Keith is being shoved inside and he’s still protecting the Princess, and he’s spitting curses and snarling challenges, staring down the barrels of several guns. Lance slowly raises his hands above his head, vaguely processing that these terrorists are telling them to stand down. _

_   Suddenly, Pidge is no longer next to him, she’s flinging herself forward, her eyes burning with a mantra of ‘ _ not again, not another brother, not again, not another-’  _ and Lance tries to grab her but she’s too fast and then they’re gone, speeding away. _

_   Lance feels his heart soar away with them even as he turns to receive his orders.  _

 

  They drop into the sewers, one by one, the boys scrambling to catch Pidge with as little jostling as possible. She still swears when she lands, but grumbles that she’s fine as she stands on her own steady feet. Lance reluctantly backs away, giving her space. He instead turns to peer into the darkness of the tunnel around them, his helmet light automatically flicking on. The sewer is… well, a sewer. It’s lined with grimy bricks and the water has a suspicious, sludge-like consistency, and it’s everything Lance figured a sewer would be. The smell is, too. It’s somewhere between burning garbage and fresh dirty diaper. Lance would gag dramatically or make some joke, but he’s too worried. Too much is going on, and he’s terrified that he’ll be too late to stop something else terrible from happening. So he ignores the disgusting part of his surroundings and instead tries to focus on anything that might be a clue.

  “Aha!” Pidge’s voice has him turning around so quickly that he nearly slips, but Lance plays it off and moves closer to where she stands with a hand raised and poking at a holoscreen. Hunk looks happy as he reads whatever tech stuff they see, but neither say anything so he clears his throat. They snap out of it and give him sheepish looks and Pidge explains. “Since we’re now on his level, we can track his suit. He’s only a few blocks away.”

  “Great work, Pidge!” Lance cheers, going in for a high five. He glances down at her useless left arm and readjusts, high-fiving her right one instead. She smiles ruefully at him, but jerks her head to the side. “Let’s go - it’s this way.”

  They take off, going a bit slower than usual to accomodate for the way Pidge has to move now that she finds herself cradling her injured appendage. 

 

_ The car doesn’t make it too far before its suddenly swerving erratically and then flipping. The remaining team and royalty watching yell in horror and fear at the wreckage, before they all run, trying to get there before the inevitable. Bodies are fleeing the behemoth vehicle, all too large to be Paladin or Princess, and then a small form is struggling with a door, yanking at it and flailing. They shout, the guards, the King, the Paladins, they try to be heard - ‘ _ Hold on! We’re coming!  _ \- but then the front of the truck is burning brighter and then exploding, and that small figure comes hurling at them through the air, tossed with the force of the explosion. The figure hits the ground and rolls, flopping uselessly. She comes to a stop mere feet from Shiro, who slides to her side, calling out “Pidge!” _

_   The Green Paladin is already rising, however, and this force of nature surges back to the overturned, smoking husk of truck, screaming for Keith. They all reach the car to find it empty, save for the driver’s… remains. There’s a moment of relief, then questions are flying and chaos reigns. _

_   “Where is the Princess?” _

_   “Green one, what happened?” _

_   “Pidge, are you okay?” _

_   “Where’s Keith?!” Lance isn’t sure, but he thinks that last one is from him. Allura gathers everyone’s attention, though, and the two terrorists that they’d managed to grab were questioned and Lance finds himself with a new task. _

_   Search the city. Find the Princess and Keith. Bring them home safely. _

 

__ Simple enough, until they learned to factor in the fact that Keith would fight tooth and nail to protect the innocent, and those terrorists would fight just as hard. Now Lance is knee-deep in who knows what, and the city is burning and Keith is out there, fighting for his life and the life of a scared child. 

  As they turn corner after corner in tense, worried silence, Lance vows to do better.  _ If I had been paying attention, if I had grabbed the girl, if I had been by Keith’s side, if I had caught Pidge, if… if… if… Since when has my life been all ‘almost’ and ‘if’? _

   They turn another corner and they can hear the fighting up ahead, all grunts and laserfire and a child crying. They pick up the pace, Pidge activating her bayard as Lance brings his up, ready to aim. Hunk has his ready, but not activated. Being their canon, he’s more for a last resort sort of skirmish than the clean fight they’re aiming for. Finally, they come up behind three of the creepy snake-lizard people, and get to work. 

   In between quick shots from his rifle, Lance admires how fiercely Pidge can fight, even with only one good arm. It doesn’t take long before they’ve cleared the path and come face to face with a battered Keith and the still crying child. Keith’s face is scratched and he has some of the sludge-water smeared across his cheek, but his eyes burn with that inner fire Lance loves and Lance is convinced he’s never seen something as beautiful as a filthy Keith in a sewer on some almost-Earth. 

  Keith approaches with the Princess, and wordlessly slumps into Lance. The girl must take that as a cue, because she approaches Hunk and shyly lifts up her arms. The Yellow and Blue Paladins exchange a glance of understanding, and nod. Hunk scoops up the scared girl, and Lance flings Keith over his shoulder.

  “If this was anyone but you, Lance, I’d stab them.” Even Keith’s voice sounds beat up. “But it’s you, so I guess it’s kind of hot that you can toss me around.”

  Lance laughs, internally grateful that the others had already started walking away, and answers Keith quietly. “You’re lucky I’m the only one who heard that, babe.” 

  “Gurgfle.” Keith grumbles, and goes very limp. Lance can feel his steady heartbeat and even breaths, though, so it’s all good. He picks up the pace and catches up to where Hunk is telling the Princess a story about the mighty protectors of the sewers back on Earth.

  “...and they raise their great, scaley heads and roar! They bare their sharp teeth and scare away all evildoers, and protect the innocents. They are fierce, noble beasts, with hides of steal and the strength of ten men!” Hunk’ saying, using his free arm to gesture grandly. The Princess is hanging on to his every word, only looking away from his face to look at her own scaled hands in wonder.

_ Way to make sewer gators sound a lot cooler than they are, bro.  _ Lance can appreciate Hunk’s superb storytelling, but he’s mostly impressed with how quickly Hunk thought up a story with heroes so similar to the girl. This single story both reassured and empowered her, and Lance was all for that. Over the Princess’s head, Lance beams at his friend and gives him a thumbs up. Hunk flashes him a grin before getting back into the story. Lances falls back a step to match with Pidge, who is calling out directions based on her holoscreen. 

  It takes them a while, but they finally manage to emerge from the sewers. Lance is the last to climb out, having waited to pass up the Princess, Pidge, and Keith to Hunk who had pulled himself out first. Pidge radios Shiro, Hunk picks the Princess back up, and Lance holds Keith once again. His boyfriend is still unconscious, but that’s okay. 

  They’re all alive, they’re all okay, and they’re in the rain. Sure, they’ll be cold and miserable once the adrenaline fades completely, and, yeah, this is going to be a long debriefing, but Lance isn’t worried. He’s got Pidge monitoring their surroundings with a sharp eye, Hunk guarding the Princess diligently, and Keith at his side.

  Life could be worse. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone leave such nice comments and I'm??? Y'all keep me crying in the club  
> as a thank you for the insane amount of support I've been getting, here's a pretty long chapter. Please, keep commenting and sharing this fic - I live for validation.   
> Se y'all next update!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lmao here we are, doing the same shit

  “Lance, when was the last time you showered?” Shiro asks from where he’s leaning against the doorframe. Lance pauses in his sporadic pacing and turns to him, finally ripping his eyes away from Keith’s sleeping form in the healing pod. 

  “Uh, I don’t… The day before Keith blew up?” Lance phrases it like a question. He knows he’s gross, but who can blame him? His boyfriend nearly  _ died _ and is basically in a coma, and has been for however-the-hell long two quintants is in earth time. Lance can still hear Coran’s worried voice listing out injuries.  _ Two fractured ribs, a stab wound in the stomach, several third-degree burns on the face and chest, small abrasions, probably from when he was launched from the car.... _

  “Lance, go shower.” Shiro orders, not unkindly, stepping into the room. Lance doesn’t move, just stares, exhausted,at his leader. “I’ll watch over him. Go shower, eat some food, take a nap. Keith is going to be fine.”

  Hunk grabs his shoulder - _ when did he get here? How out of it am I?  _ \- and leads Lance from the room with a soft “Come on, buddy.”

* * *

 

  Lance has never hated the idea of a shower more than he did in that moment. He tries to catch a last glimpse of Keith, but Shiro and Hunk block his view. Lace sighs and goes to shower. 

  When he comes back, the room is empty save for Shiro. The leader is staring silently at the younger Paladin, his shoulders tense. Lance hesitates, but pushes forward, common sense be damned. 

  “You know, a wise leader once told me to get some rest,” he says conversationally. Shiro doesn’t even flinch.

  “I’m pretty sure he said to ‘shower, eat some food, take a nap’.” Shiro murmurs, still gazing at Keith’s peaceful face like he could find every answer he’s ever searched for in the young man’s slack expression. 

  Lance waves a hand, feigning an airiness he didn’t really feel. “Paraphrasing. He also told me Keith would be fine.”

  Shiro finally smiles, albeit faintly, and turns to face him. Lance shifts, unused to Shiro’s undivided attention like this. Shiro either doesn’t notice, or has the grace to not mention anything. “Would you go back to your room to sleep if I made it an order?”

  “Would  _ you?” _ Lance qips, before immediately regretting it. Thankfully, Shiro just huffs in amusement. 

  “I guess not.” He turns to look at Keith again, before turning around. Before he left, he calls back, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

  Lance looks after him for a few seconds before shrugging. “Your brother is weird, man,” he tells Keith.

  Unsurprisingly, Keith doesn’t respond.

  Before Lance can get too depressed about this fact(again), Shiro walks back in. In his arms h carries a large bundle of… blankets? Without a word, Shiro begins constructing a nest of sorts, humming softly under his breath. Lance just stands there, pondering if he had fallen in the shower and was now hallucinating before he died. Or maybe he was in a pod? 

  Finally, Shiro rises and spreads his arms out with a proud flair. “Ta-da! Now we can watch out for him, and still get some sleep.”

  “So you made a… nest?” Lance questions, voice subdued with exhaustion. He walks over, tilting his head to observe the, admittedly comfortable-looking, construction. “I mean, it’s a creative solution, I’ll give you that.”

  Shiro, god bless the man,  _ blushes _ and scratches his neck sheepishly. “I just figured, you know, since we were gonna be here anyway, we might as well make the most f it.” He pauses and looks back to Keith, his friend, and smiles faintly. “Besides, Keith and I used to make them all the time when we were younger. I used to babysit him for his dad, and we’d watch his favorite show and he’d demand to make a blanket pile. He called it a nest, too.”

  Lance smiles for what feels like the first time in years. He carefully settles in the nest and pats the pile next to him. “What was his favorite show?”

  “The Teletubbies.” Shiro laughs.

  Lance blinks, convinced he must have misheard. “The… the Teletubbies?”

  “The Teletubbies.” Shiro confirms, sitting down next to Lance, who flops back to stare at the ceiling in wonder.

  “There’s no way. Like, in our lives, I can believe a lot of things.” Lance begins counting off the weird things on his fingers. “Random crashed UFOs, Keith breaking into a government facility after setting off a bunch of explosions, us finding creepy cave drawings, giant robotic lions, a castle that’s a ship, our greatest enemies having fluffy cat ears, and the 10,000 year old princess and advisor. I can accept that. All of it. No questions, no objections. But this? Unbelievable.”

  Shiro chuckles, laying down as well. “When Keith first saw the show, he was mesmerized. He just sat on my living room floor and fell in love with the colors. He didn’t care about the music or the names, he just liked to watch a bunch of weird, brightly colored things scramble and run. He’d burrow in his nest and stare for  _ hours _ at the screen. It was surreal.”

  Lance processes this as best he can. His badass, dual sword wielding, defender of the universe boyfriend was obsessed with the Teletubbies?  _ Really? _ Slowly, he turns to look in awe at Shiro. “What else?”

  “What?” Shiro asks.

  “What else ya got?” Lance sits up, suddenly more awake. “What other things can you tell me about my adorable boyfriend?”

  “Well, I don’t know about adorable,” Shiro muses, “but I can do embarrassing.”

  “That’s even better!” Lance cheers, bouncing in place eagerly. Shiro laughs again and sits up with a grunt.

  “Alright, so one time I come home after school to find Keith already in my house, which in itself is not a weird occurrence. What was weird, though, was that he was covered in a tomato sauce, a black feather in his hair, and no less than three turtles crawling over him…”

* * *

 

  Lance wakes up to a gentle hand shaking his shoulder. He grunts and tries to roll back over, desperate to cling onto the dream he’d been having. The hand persists, shaking him a little harder, and he protests weakly. “Mamá, por favor no me hagas salir. Quiero ayudar a alimentar a las tortugas.”  _ Mom, please don’t make me leave. I want to help feed the turtles. _

__ “Lance, wake up. Keith is almost ready to come out.” Shiro’s voice breaks through the vision of seven tiny turtles and violet eyes, and Lance groggily sits up. Shiro is crouched next to him, hand on his shoulder, looking just as exhausted but happy. “Let’s get ready to help him out, okay?”

  Lance accepts the hand he’s offered, and stretches upon standing. After just about every bone in his body pops or cracks, Lance joins Shiro in front of the pod. Behind them, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, and Coran file in. Nobody talks, all of them unwilling to break the eager silence that has befallen them.

  Without more than a beep, the pod opens and Keith pitches forward. Lance and Shiro catch him easily, and help to steady him. Keith’s bowed head slowly shakes, then lifts to blink sleepily at everyone. He blinks slowly, confused and disoriented, and Lance is reminded of a kitten waking after a long nap in the sun. 

  “Welcome back, Samurai,” Lance whispers, kissing him softly. Keith turns to look at Lance, and comprehension breaks through like the sun, and a wide, uninhibited smile grows on his lips. Lance can’t help beaming back, much like he can’t help the fluttering in his chest at the sight. 

  “Good to be back, Sharpshooter.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally wrote this during the superbowl as everyone screams around me. it's been an Experience
> 
> Anyway, I'm super sorry this took forever! Life has been hectic, depression's been a bitch, classes are crazy, etc. etc.
> 
> I don't know when the next chapter will be, but it will be an epilogue! Maybe. Most likely. Unless y'all have something to say about it? Like, if you all feel I've left something major out, or if you notice I've left some scenes out that I should have included? 
> 
> Basically, comment with what I should add before it's too late! Also, please leave some kudos and share this fic! Feel free to check out The Coldest Flames, my other fic, that I'll be continuing as soon as I finish this one. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey yeah not dead yet
> 
>  
> 
> also this chapter mentions sex but there's nothing graphic

  With time comes healing, Lance figures. It's been a few weeks now, the bite long since worn off, and the problems of Setibevol soothed and solved. The Paladins were at peace, figuring out the new dynamic that Keith and Lance brought, as well as moving past the whole Keith-nearly-dying-in-a-sewer-after-sacrificing-himself-for-Pidge thing. Thankfully, they all seemed to reach a new level of understanding with one another, and the halls of the Castle had never been warmer. Lance feels at peace, but that's probably more due to Keith's solid warmth more than anything. 

  They're laying on Lance's bed, legs tangled together, relaxing, basking in each others presence. Keith is nuzzled into his chest, Lance's fingers combing through his hair. Lance has no idea how long they've been there, but it’s not enough time. When it comes to Keith, Lance will always want more: more attention, more touching, more  _ Keith, _ until he has his everything. Lance couldn't wait to give his everything to Keith, too. The thought of them giving the other their whole selves… Lance flushed with pleasure at that future. On his chest, Keith shifted with a soft huff, catching Lance's attention.

  "What's up?" he whispers, reluctant to break the soft quiet they'd found themselves in. When Keith hesitates to respond, Lance breathes, "Come on, babe. Talk to me."

_ Maybe he's worried? Are we moving too fast? Or maybe we aren't moving fast enough? Keith has literally always gone too fast, so maybe it's the same in his relationships?  _ Luckily, Keith speaks before Lance can spiral too far. 

  "It's just..." Keith hesitates, propping his chin on Lance's chest before continuing. "I left my three pet lizards in my shack, and I didn't leave their food open. I mean, sure, they're used to hunting, but it's been a year since they've actually had to do anything and they've gotten pretty lazy. Are they okay? Do they remember how to take care of themselves? Lance, do you think they remember?" 

  Lance just stares into Keith is wide, innocent eyes, blue meeting violet. Keith blinks, and Lance feels the warmth on his chest suddenly explode beneath his skin and flood his entire system with just how  _ much _ he loves this gorgeous, dorky boy on his chest.  _ This crazy, hot headed, passionate warrior is  _ mine, _ and I'm his and literally nothing will ever be as perfect as this, right here. _

  "Lance?" Keith asks again, breaking him from his thoughts. Lance immediately squeals -  _ ahem, _ shouts (you know, like an Adult, only children  _ squeal) _ with delight as he heaves himself onto Keith, trying to physically squash the Red Paladin with the weight of his affections. Keith, not expecting it, yelps in surprise and fails to brace himself for the armload of boyfriend being launched at him, point blank. The boys roll and hit the floor, with Lance taking the brunt of the impact. But he’s a little high on his love for Keith, so he wheezes through his laughter and squeezes him a little tighter, much to Keith’s chagrin. 

  “Lance!” Keith hisses, wriggling to try and escape. “Let go, you dork!”

   “But  _ Keeeeff!” _ Lace coos, using his longer limbs to wrap Keith up in an unbreakable grip. “You’re so  _ cute, _ I just have to hold you!”

  “You’re crushing me!”

  “It’s ‘cause I’ve got a crush on you!” Lance jokes, even as he relaxes his grip on his squirming boyfriend. Keith pulls away just enough to prop himself up on his hands, looking down at Lance in affectionate confusion. 

  “I’m going to ignore that joke for both our sakes.” He says it like he doesn’t enjoy Lance’s humor,  _ which he totally does, _ Lance is positive. “Why did you tackle me off the bed?”

  “I’ll tell you if you kiss me!” Lance cries, smooshing Keith’s face between his hands. 

  “Lanf,” Keith tries to talk, “you canf jush shay that everytime I ashk you shomefing!” He swats Lance’s hands away playfully. “And stop squishing my face!”

  “I’ll stop demanding payment when you stop paying, Samurai.” Lance taunts, gently nudging Keith back so he can sit up. Keith grins, giving him enough room to move but not a hair’s breadth farther. 

   “Now let’s not get hasty…” Keith purrs, sending shivers down Lance’s spine. The boys eagerly meet in the tiny space Keith left, lips slotting together perfectly. 

  Lance groans as Keith settles on him more comfortably, the hands on his chest lighting him on fire from within. Kissing Keith felt like the opening drum beats to his favorite band, like the drop of a rollercoaster hundreds of feet in the air, like the first time he felt Blue’s presence in his mind. It was a loop and dip in his gut, it was a burn in his chest but ice in his veins, it was his heartbeat picking up the pace while also standing still. Kissing Keith was his favorite thing in the universe.

  And, judging by the moan Lance carefully, expertly, coaxed out of him, Keith was having a damn fun time, too. Slowly, Lance moves his hands from where they’re squeezing Keith’s waist, to run them up and down his back in loving motions. Keith arches his back into Lance’s touch, sending their hips together in a jolt of electricity that caught both of them off guard. Keith broke the kiss to throw his head back, leaving his neck wide open for Lance’s more than eager mouth. 

  Now, Lance was by no means an artist. His painting attempts were comically terrible, his doodles mere scribbling, and his sculptures? Let’s just say his mother has a very,  _ very, _ odd array of misshapen clay lumps stored away in his home on earth. But when Keith bares his neck like this, open and trusting and desperate, well. Lance puts fucking DaVinci to shame.

  Within minutes, Keith’s throat is decorated with bitemarks and fresh hickies, melding perfectly with the older, fading ones Lance had left the last time they’d been granted some peace and quiet. Purple meets red as he sucks and nibbles, and smooth skin meets his teeth as he bites just the way Keith likes it. Lance had never been interested in conducting, but by god could he get Keith to sing with just a few laps of his tongue on the boy’s heated flesh.

  Lance is just about to really get into it when the alarm goes off, sending them both shooting apart in, well, in alarm. In a flash, Keith is on his feet and yanking Lance up as well, ignoring his groan of complaint. “This is literally the fourth time. Is Zarkon  _ himself _ trying to cockblock me?!”

  Keith, hurriedly grabbing his bayard and fixing his stuff, raises an eyebrow. “Pretty sure Zarkon doesn’t care about whether or not you’re getting some dick.”

  Lance smirks and hugs Keith from behind. He murmurs into Keith’s ear, letting the rumble of his chest add to his soft words. “I don’t think I’d be the one getting the dick, baby.”

  Keith stills, stiff in Lance’s arms, before lunging into action. “Come on, let’s hurry this along. We’ll be busy when we get back.”

  Lance grins, the adrenaline in his veins partly from the incoming mission, and partly from the fire-hearted boy next to him.

* * *

  After a minute, both boys burst into the control room, dressed and ready for battle. Only to find the others in civilian clothing, longing in their chairs. Upon the boys’ arrival, Pidge and Hunk sighed heavily while Shiro smirked.

  “I told you two they weren’t doing… that.” Shiro says, walking to the Yellow and Green Paladins to collect some GAC. Pidge and Hunk grumble as the pay him.

  “Wait, there’s no threat?” Keith demands, looking around suspiciously.

  “Wait, you guys were  _ betting _ on us?!” Lance squacks, indignant.

  “No,” Pidge sighed, “Hunk and I are  _ losing _ a bet about you two.” Hunk nods along solemnly. 

  Lance opens his mouth to complain some more, but Keith, ever the more focused of the pair, grabs him and drags him from the room. “Well, if there’s no danger, Lance I were in the middle of something. Bye.”

  “Wow, Keith, way to not beat around the bush!” Pidge calls after them. The door swishes closed behind them, but not before Keith snaps back “I’ll beat around Lance’s bush!”

   Lance had, in all eighteen years of his life, never once been more embarrassed. Or terrified. Don’t judge, okay? Shiro is  _ scary _ when he wants to be, and Lance was getting, ahem,  _ busy _ with his little brother! “Dude, why would you say  _ that?!  _ I value my life!”

  “Sorry,” he apologizes, not sounding sorry at all. “To be fair, I don’t think Shiro will really mind much.”

  “You’re his little brother! He’s gonna kill me!” Lance complains, still being dragged.

   “What, are we not gonna fuck now?” Keith pauses to look back at him, a tiny smirk on his (very kissable) lips. 

  “Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that…” Lance mutters, doing the pulling now.  _ This is going to be fun. _

* * *

  Later that night, as they cuddle, Lance can’t help but smile. He’d been smiling a lot, lately, and it was all thanks to Keith. And that dumb bug.  _ I can’t believe I can honestly say that it took a bug bite to get me a boyfriend. Space is weird. _

  Keith nuzzles up to Lance’s bare chest, cuddling closer even in his sleep. Lance can’t help the soft ‘aw’ that escapes his mouth at the sight of his sleeping face. Keith, always so on edge, always so fight-or-flight, had been smiling a lot more, too. Lance figured it was probably thanks to himself. 

  “L’nnss…” Keith grumbles in his sleep. “I luh… you too…”

  Lance literally feels his heart stop and restart in the span of those mumbled half-words. “Yeah, baby. I love you too.” Despite the happiness in his chest, Lance falls asleep quickly. 

   He’s too deep asleep to notice when Keith awakens in the middle of the night, slow and peaceful. He sleeps through the gentle caress of his face, the soft lips pressed to his forehead, the quiet “I love you, Lance. I love you.”

  The blowjob in the morning sure wakes him up, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot this even existed?? Sorry, I've been insanely busy. I got a job and I'm getting ready for college next month, on top of graduating last month. It's been a busy summer  
> Anyway, the amount of love this fic has gotten has blown me away?? Like, I started writing this as a joke, and it blew up? So, thank you to everyone who has read, reread, liked, and commented. I think I'm going to create a series for this, so if y'all wanna see some more stuff, feel free to make requests!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! This was fun to write, and I hope it was fun to read! Please, leave a comment and let me know what you thought!  
> If you have any requests or ideas, please feel free to let me know. This was based on a Tumblr post that I'm trying to find, and when I do I'll tag it.  
> Pease leave a comment or some kudos, and I'll try to get chapters up every weekend. Thanks!
> 
>  
> 
> Edit 10/29/17: *triumphant laughter* I found the post!!!! Thanks to those offering their help, but I just found it!! https://voidlessxmeaning.tumblr.com/post/166789981629/i-want-a-klance-fic-where-keith-gets-stung-by


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